Hiker crawls for two days carrying broken leg after 20ft plunge down waterfall

A hiker who plunged down a waterfall had to carry his broken leg for two days while crawling towards safety.

Neil Parker, 54, from Queensland, Australia, was trekking alone on Sunday at Cabbage Tree Creek, near Brisbane when he fell 20 feet over the edge of the waterfall.

The experienced hiker told the reporters from his hospital bed on Wednesday: "I cartwheeled and slammed into the rock and landed in the creek at the bottom."

He said he had to "carry" his leg after it "clean snapped in half" and the whole bottom of his limb "came loose".

He also fractured his wrist during the fall.

Neil damaged his phone in the waterfall and he decided to self-rescue and crawl to a clearing where he hoped he would be seen.

He told of his agonising journey to the reporters: "I'd get about a metre, a metre-and-a-half, each time before I had to stop and take a break.

"I just couldn't believe it. It's only 3km (2 miles) but it took two days to cover 3km. I was thinking that I was never going to get there."

His family launched a search operation with the help of Brisbane Bushwalkers community on Monday.

A search-and-rescue helicopter spotted Neil and winched him to safety the next afternoon before taking him to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

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