Woman relearns to walk after falling from cliff at engagement party

By Freddie Noble

A woman dislocated her knee and had to relearn to walk after falling off a two-meter cliff at an engagement party.

Carly Hay, 27, flew out to Canberra, Australia, with her partner to celebrate their friend's engagement.

During the party, Carly wanted everyone to get involved in a race, so four of them started running across the field.

Before she started running, Carly did not realize there was a two-meter drop, so she ran straight off the cliff and landed on her left leg, which hyperextended 45 degrees.

She was then driven to a local Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, where she had two surgeries - to reconstruct her knee - and had to relearn to walk.

Carly Hay, 24, a physiotherapist from Canberra, Australia, said: "The race that we decided to do was the first person to run to the shed, and then at the last minute, we decided to run to the tree, but we didn’t check the course.

"It was a two-meter drop, and where I fell, some pipes were coming out of the ground, and because I was going 100%, I had no time to stop, and I hyperextended my left knee.

"It was pretty awful, and then I fell to the ground. I knew it wasn’t right. I first thought I did my ACL, and that would be 12 months of rehab.

"I didn’t feel any pain, which is crazy, but the shock and the adrenaline were there. I tried to get back up and walk, but I couldn't put any weight on it."

During the engagement, Carly suggested that the guests have a race across the field, but nobody checked the route and noticed there was a two-meter drop.

The guests started running, and after running 20 meters, Carly and the other guests fell two meters, landing on her feet.

Carly said: "I fell where there were pipes coming out of the ground, while the other runners came out fine, as they landed on more of a gradient. As soon as I landed, I knew what I had done."

Luckily, a physio was at the party who took care of Carly before the ambulance arrived, and she was then driven to a local hospital in New South Wales, Australia, to undergo X-rays and CT scans.

Carly said: "To be honest, I was in no pain. I knew the ramifications of the injury because I wouldn’t play any sport for 12 months."

The results came back showing the damage she caused to her knee, and she was transferred to Canberra Hospital to have an MRI.

The MRI scan confirmed Carly had a comminuted medial tibial plateau fracture (Schatzker IV), a ruptured posterolateral corner (PLC), and a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).

Carly said: "As soon as they said a tibial plateau fracture and, my heart just sank. I had it surgically operated on, and my tibia was in pieces.

Doctors told Carly she would need an operation, two surgeries, one to fixate her medial tibial plateau fracture and a second one to reconstruct her posterolateral corner.

On October 9, 2024, Carly underwent her first surgery - open reduction and internal fixation - which involved surgically realigning the fractured bone fragments and securing them with plates and screws.

The following day, she was discharged before undergoing a posterolateral corner (PLC) reconstruction to reconstruct the knee on March, 5, 2025.

Carly said: "The surgeries have gone really well. I’ve just had a second surgery, and I’ve now got little movement in my ACL.

"Because I just had the surgery four weeks ago, it feels like I have started again. I smashed my physio and weight training. I’m still wearing a leg brace, but recovery has been pretty cool."

After the surgery, Carly spent six days in hospital, where she learned to walk again.

She would do squats, lunges, and other neuromuscular training two times a day before she could go home.

Carly said: "I was in hospital for five days for the first stint, and then I was in hospital for one night after the second surgery.

"It involved a lot of neuromuscular training, electrical stimulation, quad sitting exercises, bar work, squats, lunges, and lots of knee extensions. I got back to running a couple of weeks after the hospital.

"The two days before the injury, I did an 18-km run, I was doing Pilates, competing in marathons, horse riding, and snowboarding, and it felt like I had lost my identity.

"It was more the mental battle I struggled with the most."

Carly is currently still in rehab and will need therapy until December 2025.

Carly said: "When I left the hospital for the second time, I was hoping it would be the last surgery, and because I still have so much movement in my ACL, it made me feel there is still some repair left."