Boy survives 10-metre ravine fall

AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy, Loucas Louca, fell into a 10-metre ravine while hunting with his father yesterday morning in the countryside between Lofou village and Pera Pedi.

He suffered bruising to the mid-thoracic area and was transferred by helicopter to Limassol General Hospital following a 90-minute rescue operation.  Though the injuries are not deemed severe he is currently being held for observation in the orthopaedic department.

“From where he landed there was another 20-30 metres depth to the ravine.  He was lucky he did not fall in deeper,” said Giorgos Makariou of the Limassol Fire Brigade, who took part in the rescue operation.

The place where the incident occurred, known to hunters as the Peradis area, is inaccessible to rescue vehicles with the nearest road being 200 metres higher up.  As a consequence, although the Fire Brigade arrived on the scene 20 minutes after the accident occurred, the boy had to wait to be airlifted out by helicopter on a stretcher.

The fire department and a nurse who arrived on the scene before the helicopter made it there deemed it unsafe to move him out by other means on account of the bruising he suffered to his back during the fall.

The boy was out hunting with his father, 15 year old brother, uncle and another hunting friend when the accident occurred.  He was walking along the top edge of the ravine when he slipped as the ground was still wet from the recent rains.  He skidded down on his back and ended up at a depth of approximately 10 metres.

“I heard an ‘Aahhh!’ and my other son shouted.  I rushed to where they were and when I saw that he was hurt in the mid-section I told to him to sit still down there and immediately called the emergency services,” said Aristos Louca, the boy’s father.

Loucas was lifted out of the ravine by police helicopter approximately one and a half hours after first falling into it.  Despite being kept in hospital for observation his condition has been deemed very good and stable by medical staff.