A man in his 50s has been taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition after falling approximately 10 metres from the cliff-side boardwalk between South Curl Curl and Freshwater this morning.
Emergency services were alerted at around 9:15am to the incident off Lumsdaine Drive at Freshwater, where the man had fallen onto the rock platform below the popular coastal walk.
He sustained a head injury, back injury and possibly broken fingers.
Three fire trucks and ten firefighters from Narrabeen and Dee Why stations responded alongside NSW Police, NSW Ambulance, Northern Beaches Lifeguards and a rescue helicopter with specialist paramedics.
Narrabeen firefighters, who are the dedicated vertical rescue responders for the Northern Sydney area, carried specialised equipment to perform the complex cliff rescue.
An off-duty nurse and paramedic walking by were among the first on the scene and assisted from the path while emergency services made their way to the man.
Specialist paramedics were winched down from the Toll helicopter to reach him at the base of the cliff, while other emergency personnel made their way across the rocks to assist.
After paramedics stabilised the patient, firefighters set up an Arizona Vortex, a rescue frame used to create safe anchor points for lifting, and the man was secured in a rigid-framed rescue stretcher known as a Stokes Litter and hauled to the top of the cliff.
He was then carried to an ambulance and transported by road to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition.
As the rescue progressed, a rising tide made it unsafe for crews to exit along the rock platform, requiring all personnel and equipment to also be hauled to the top of the cliff. Emergency services remained at the scene until just after midday.
