Jarrod Turian, left, got stuck on cliffs near Petit Bot recently and Andy Walford of the cliff rescue team hacked through thick undergrowth to reach him. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0579498)

REACHING a teenager stuck on cliffs at Petit Bot was the hardest such job the Ambulance and Rescue Service has done for at least 13 years.

Jarrod Turian, 17, had been walking the cliffs with his parents, James and Sharon, brothers, Levi, 14, and Sion, 11, and sister, Carmel, 5. ‘It was a nice day, so at about 3pm I thought I’d have a walk over the rocks,’ said Mr Turian, a first-year A-level student at Elizabeth College.

Mr Turian began climbing over rocks on the St Martin’s side of the bay in an effort to reach some steps he had been told were around the corner. ‘I knew the tide was coming up, but I didn’t realise it would come up so quickly,’ he said.

He reached a ledge and when he found he could not go sideways, he put a car tyre he had found over his arm and began thrashing through the thick brambles. ‘The next thing I knew was when my dad phoned and said I was being rescued.’

Cliff principal Andy Walford and his rescue team of four arrived at the path above the casualty. Andy Adam abseiled down the gentle slope and tried to work his way around a rocky area to reach Mr Turian. About 100ft down, he was stopped by thick brambles and ended up below and to the side of the teenager.

‘I’ve been on the cliff rescue team for 13 years now and it was the most difficult rescue I’ve done,’ said Mr Walford. ‘Had it not been for the brambles, Jarrod would have been able to get out on his own.’