A 12-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after falling some 20-odd metres while climbing Uluru this past weekend, the latest injury on the climb as thousands upon thousands of wilfully ignorant tourists flock to climb the sacred landmark before the practice is banned entirely on October 26th.
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In this latest incident, the young girl was reportedly descending Uluru on Sunday afternoon along with her parents and younger brother. Nearing the lower section of the climb, where the singular safety chain is located, the girl reportedly lost her footing, began running out of control, before falling and rolling approximately 20 – 30 metres down Uluru.
Somewhat miraculously, the girl is said to have escaped the fall without any critical injuries. Instead, she suffered a compound fracture of her finger, an undisclosed ankle injury, and a series of bumps and grazes from the fall and subsequent roll.
Several bystanders rendered assistance to both the girl and her family, with the girl reportedly being carried down the remainder of Uluru before she was attended to by emergency personnel at the Yulara clinic, who subsequently transported her to the Alice Springs Hospital. Staff there confirmed the patient is in a stable condition.
The fall comes just under two weeks prior to climbing being banned altogether on October 26th; a ceremonial date chosen to mark the anniversary of the site’s handback to traditional First Nations owners.
Despite this, thousands upon thousands of tourists have reportedly been treating it as a last-chance deadline and not a gradual phasing out, clogging the climbing route and creating fairly horrible-looking human traffic jams on Uluru. This, despite signs respectfully urging tourists to consider not climbing being in place for decades.
