Woman falls from cliff at Whaligoe
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A SEA rescue near the Whaligoe Steps on Sunday has not been directly connected to any safety issues with the popular tourist destination.
The incident involved a woman falling 25ft from a cliff she was said to be climbing around and situated beyond the steps in the area known as the Haven.
The coastguard service was called out and attended to the casualty who was brought up the 330 steps on a stretcher.
A coastguard spokeswoman said: “At 1pm we had a report of a lady who'd been injured and fallen from a cliff into the water. The ambulance service had requested we attend."
She went on to say that the Inverness coastguard rescue helicopter was called out along with the Wick and Duncansby rescue teams.
"A winchman from the helicopter was lowered down to assess her as he's trained as a paramedic as well. They then conducted a rope rescue and the casualty was taken to hospital in Wick via an ambulance and not the helicopter."
The woman, understood to be from the Bower area, was treated for a suspected fractured arm at the hospital.
An eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, was working in the area at the time and said that the woman appeared to be in her sixties.
"It seems she was climbing around rocks at the bottom around an area called the Haven. She didn't fall off the steps or directly from the grassy area but from rocks around it," he said.
"When they took her up she looked a bit hypothermic what with being wet and in the wind."
He stressed that the accident hadn't occurred on the steps themselves but at an area close by, and how it would be "unfortunate" if people were put off coming to the attraction due to an incident involving one individual.
"This would have cost a lot of money as well with all the services that attended," he added.
Whaligoe Haven is surrounded on three sides by 250ft cliffs and is reached by the historic Whaligoe Steps, which descend to the harbour in a zigzag form. The steps were originally said to number 365 and were built to support the burgeoning fishing industry of the 19th century
The site is on many tourist itineraries for the far north and won the Shell Best of Britain award twice. It has been maintained by local people for a number of years.
