26 Jan 2015

Elderly man plunges 60m off cliff

8:50 pm on 26 January 2015

An 85-year-old man is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after falling 60 metres down a cliff on Auckland's North Shore this afternoon.

A police spokesperson said the man fell from the back of his property on Beach Road in Castor Bay, and landed on rocks and water.

He managed to call emergency services from his mobile phone at about 3pm, despite drifting in and out of consciousness.

He was spotted by a police officer on a kayak, and Fire Service rescuers then abseiled down to him before he was winched up by a rescue helicopter.

The man was in considerable pain and was thought to have received multiple fractures, the spokesperson said.

He was in a serious but stable condition in Auckland Hospital.