Boy falls off cliff while having photo taken on school trip

A boy fell 60ft off a cliff while having his photo taken on a geography trip. The 15-year-old miraculously walked away from the fall with minor injuries yesterday afternoon (Thursday, June 20).

He was reportedly enjoying some 'down time' during the school trip to Old Harry Rocks near Studland, Dorset, when he went over to the edge of the cliffs. He fell and landed on shingle, with various rescue teams scrambling to rescue him.

Coastguards said it was a "miracle" that he wasn't badly hurt. He only sustained a small cut to his head and some scratches on his back.

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After being checked over, the boy was released back to his group. The emergency services gave him some strong safety advice about his actions.

Ian Brown, station officer for Swanage Coastguard, said: "The students had been briefed on not going near the cliff edge. But it would appear the group were having some downtime and one lad wanted a photo taken by his friend near the cliff edge.

"He went towards it, and then his friends said they just saw him 'disappear over the edge'. I'd be surprised if he wasn't a bit sore today, but everyone was absolutely amazed he didn't have any major injuries.

"It's that safety message we want to raise - please stay away from cliff edges. When we say don't go near the cliff edge, we mean within five metres - don't be tempted to even go near it.

"I want to share a final thank you to everyone that attended yesterday - from the local kayaking group to all the emergency services. I've been doing this for 34 years and we've had some miracles - this is certainly one of those."

Lifeboat crews arrived to find the boy being attended to by a local kayak company who had been passing on the water and stopped to help. A HM Coastguard spokesperson said: "The alarm was raised at about 1.45pm on 20 June.

"The boy was recovered safe and well from the beach by the RNLI's inshore lifeboat from Swanage and passed into the care of South West Ambulance Service."