A woman has been airlifted to hospital to be treated for a spinal injury after she was swept off rocks south of Sydney, along with her husband and two grandchildren.
Paramedics say they were knocked from their feet while walking along a rock platform near a remote bush track off Chellow Dene Avenue at Stanwell Park.
The grandfather, 71, and the two boys, 13 and ten, were able to pull themselves out of the water, but the woman, aged in her 70s, needed more assistance.
"Her husband jumped back in to support her as she said that she had some back pain," NSW Ambulance Chief Inspector Norm Rees said.
"A doctor and a paramedic were winched in and retrieved the woman with the aid of Surf Life Saving, and they determined that she had spinal injuries.
'Quite a task'
Chief Inspector Rees said it was a tricky rescue from the moment the grandfather alerted emergency services his family was in trouble.
"They raised the alarm by phone from the site but the reception was intermittent, so he'd give part of the detail and then the next thing was he'd lost reception," he said.
"It was quite a task — it was a long and hard walk in, 20 to 30 minutes, and that doubled to walk them out.
"I think there was about 15 to 20 emergency services personnel involved and everybody was rescued."
The woman was flown to Royal North Shore hospital for further treatment.
Mr Rees said the man and the boys were relieved to see the paramedics arrive.
"They were all in very good spirits and glad to see us," he said.
