Briton trapped for two days after plunging 33ft into a gorge during a Greek island hike is rescued by helicopter as emergency crews hail ‘miracle’ survival

• Unnamed man fell 33ft through gorge on the island of Samothrace on Aug. 20
• His friend had no phone signal but was able to find another climber
• Fire service was called and they summoned a Greek Air Force Puma helicopter 
• Due to darkness on the Thursday night, efforts had to be abandoned and it was not until Saturday morning that he was eventually rescued 

A British man who was trapped for two days after miraculously surviving a 33ft plunge during a hike has been rescued on a Greek island.

The unnamed man was hiking with his friend, a Greek-Danish national, when he fell through the terrifying gorge on Samothrace last Thursday night.

His friend had no phone signal and had to scramble to find another climber who was able to call the fire service and provide their location to rescuers.

‘It was a miracle that this man lived after such a fall. We asked for the assistance of the 4th EMAK and after a course of 10 hours, we found him at the 6th waterfall. He was completely exhausted and dehydrated,’ the commander of the Samothrace Fire Brigade, Pantelis Theofanidis, told ERT.  

Footage released by the Greek Air Force shows the Briton being winched up to the Puma after being strapped into a stretcher on the island of Samothrace on Saturday morning

An rescuer is winched down to the stricken Briton

Rescuers load the casualty into the stretcher

A Greek Air Force Super Puma was dispatched to the island to lift the casualty to safety. 

But due to darkness, the Puma was unable to rescue the man on the Thursday night and returned to complete the mission on Saturday morning.

Video released by the Air Force shows them winching a stretcher down into the gorge and lifting the Briton to safety. 

It is not clear why the Briton could not be rescued on the Friday but he was transported to the General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis on the mainland.

It is not clear what injuries the casualty had sustained in the fall. 

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The helicopter transported the Briton to the General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis on the mainland

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