Last Sunday, what was supposed to be a happy birthday celebration ended in tragedy when a woman fell to her death on Chapman’s Peak.

Jolandi le Roux, 31, was jumping in the air at the cliff edge of Lookout Point to stage a photograph that would look as if she was leaping over the setting sun when she lost her footing.

Now, new details have emerged that make the whole thing even sadder. According to IOL, her husband risked his life in an attempt to save her.

Le Roux, who worked at online shopping site Superbalist, and her husband Andrew had been married for just over a year.

After Jolandi slipped over the edge of the cliff, Andrew, an experienced trail runner and triathlete, found a way to scramble 100 metres down the mountainside in an attempt to reach his wife.

The first metro rescuer on the scene, paramedic Henry Barlow, 47, lowered on to the mountainside from the Skymed helicopter at 5.40pm, was shocked to encounter Andrew.

“It’s one of the most dangerous places in the Peninsula,” said Barlow, who has seen it all in his 28-year career and struggled to find a secure footing before unclipping himself from the chopper.

“He risked his life trying to reach his wife but couldn’t. It was heartbreaking, but it would have been suicide to go any further. It was just cliffs and a 60m drop to the rocks and sea below us.”

Barlow wanted to airlift Andrew off the mountainside, but he refused, saying that he would find his own way back.

By now, more rescuers had been airdropped on to the mountain, including Matthew Young, 33, a rock climber and advanced trauma life support doctor, who had been assigned to retrieve Jolandi.

Assisting him with various rope anchor points were fellow Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) volunteers Steve Hofmeyr, David Nel, Christo Lotter and Nicholas le Maitre. Above them at Lookout Point, around 20 other metro and WSAR rescuers manned their support stations.

Even for experienced Mountain Club rock climbers like Young, who has been at it for 16 years, the conditions below Lookout are treacherous. “It is not a nice place to be. The whole mountain is falling apart, literally. It’s ancient, crumbling sandstone that breaks off easily. It’s by no means inspiring. Especially in the dark when all you’ve got is a headlamp.”

Young’s first attempt to abseil down the one sheer cliff of the gully to Jolandi lasted 5m. “Rocks were falling all around me. One of them was as big as a car engine. So we decided to swing me across to the other cliffside.”

The attempts to retrieve Jolandi’s body took hours due to the weather and cliff face conditions, but rescue teams persisted for the sake of her family.

News24 reports that visitors to the popular tourist spot have been warned to be careful and obey the instructions on signage in the area.

Should anything occur, visitors can contact the company’s call centre on 021 791 8220.

[source:iol&news24]