‘I survived 60ft plunge down waterfall – now I wake up screaming if I hear dripping’
A hiker who fell 60ft down a waterfall has described it as a “miracle” that he survived and wakes up screaming.
Dad-of-one Gerry McLelland, 39, slipped on some rocks at Grey Mare’s Tail on Scottish Borders, on January 14.
He fell down a waterfall but somehow survived by covering his head and using cold water breathing techniques.
READ MORE: Two children killed after bus crashes into a day car centre as driver arrested
His ordeal was such that during his five-night stay in hospital, he would wake up in the night screaming in horror due to sound of the air con unit resembling the gush of the waterfall.
(Image: SWNS)
“Everything that happened that day, it’s all kind of a miracle, Gerry said.”
After being submerged by the water, Gerry was resigned to his fate but then somehow scrambled to safety just before another 60ft drop awaited.
He suffered a fractured back, shattered his right leg and ankle, and could not feel his legs when he was flown away by air ambulance.
Medics working on him at the major trauma unit of Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow agreed Gerry’s survival was little short of miraculous.
(Image: SWNS)
Gerry, a maintenance engineer, is now recovering at his parents’ house in North Lanarkshire.
He was previously very active, and had cycled around Palestine to raise money for charity in 2019 but is now bed-bound and requires round-the-clock care from his daughter.
Speaking about the horror fall, Gerry said: “The night before there was quite a lot of rain, the water was really really powerful.
“On the way back down at the top of the stream I slipped into the burn.
“I knew the drop was coming so I covered my head, and hit every rock on the way down.
(Image: Katielee Arrowsmith SWNS)
“I was thinking ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die’.
“I had to accept this was my time, I stopped fighting and let myself go.”
Grabbing onto some rocks Gerry managed to pull himself out the water before noticing his foot was twisted in the wrong direction.
He said: “As soon as I got out, my foot was twisted the wrong way round, my legs were completely gone, so was my pelvis.
(Image: SWNS)
“I didn’t know my back was broken.”
He managed to signal to a rescue helicopter which was flying overhead after a friend called for help.
Gerry added that his recovery hell has been even more mental than physical: “I have always been terrified of drowning, since I was a kid.
“Every time I closed my eyes I could see the water and hear the water.
(Image: Katielee Arrowsmith SWNS)
“The air conditioning unit above my bed sounded like rushing water.
“I couldn’t sleep, when I was dozing off I would wake up screaming.
“I’m having dreams about it but nowhere near as bad as in the hospital.”
To get more stories from the Daily Star delivered straight to your inbox sign up to one of our free newsletters here.
READ NEXT: