As Lachy Shaw's broken body lay in the shadow of the cliff, more than 13 strangers helped to keep his heart beating until paramedics arrived.
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Those strangers are the reason Lachy is lying in Canberra Hospital right now, painfully but blessedly alive, his father Darren Shaw said.
Minutes earlier, the central coast teenager had been standing on a cliff at the secluded Depot Beach, north of Batemans Bay, but plummeted more than 20 metres after losing his footing.
Mr Shaw told of his desperation to thank two nurses he'd believed were first on the scene.
What he learnt when his phone rang the next day made his son's story of survival even more remarkable.
One of the nurses, Catherine, learnt of his plight to find them and reached out to him to share what happened in those moments after Lachy plunged from the cliff.
Catherine and her family were gathered to celebrate her mother's 89th birthday.
They watched in horror as Lachy dove from the cliff as if in "slow motion" and rushed to his aid.
As there was no mobile phone reception, her 10-year-old niece sprinted towards the ranger's cabin several kilometres up the road to call for help.
"[They said] he was protecting his head the whole time he fell, he came forward, that's why his arms are broken and he has facial injuries but they cannot believe there are no more injuries than what he's got. Even though they're quite extensive he'll walk again, he'll make a full recovery," Mr Shaw said.
"It's amazing. We both just cried for 15 minutes on the phone talking to each other."
Among the strangers on the beach that day was another man who was trained in first response.
Mr Shaw said they were so incredibly fortunate in that so many medical professionals happened to be enjoying the beach that day.
"They're just beautiful people, we're so lucky," he said.
Lachy's distraught girlfriend Courtney, who'd watched him plummet after the cliff face crumbled beneath his feet, cradled his head in her lap for so long, once paramedics airlifted him away she collapsed.
"She sat with Lachy the whole time and kept him calm. When she stood up she had no blood in her legs, they had to pick her up because she couldn't move," Mr Shaw said.
"Her parents have been fantastic, they organised the car to get to Canberra, they're such nice people, I can't thank them enough either."
Mr Shaw also gave his heartfelt thanks to the paramedics, the SnowyHydro Southcare helicopter crew and the doctors who helped his son.
"He's going to be okay. He's got another lot of operations today but he's going to be fine," Mr Shaw said on Tuesday.
"After all of the terrible stuff that's happened in the world recently and then this happened, [it's incredible to see] there's a lot of good people out there."
Canberra mum Donna Bouma was camping with family and friends in the area and witnessed the aftermath of the accident.
When she was speaking to the ranger later, he commented how lucky Lachy was his fall had not been a day later as the area would have been deserted.
"The ranger's cabin would have been empty and it's quite secluded," Ms Bouma said.
"The ranger said it had never happened before."
