Miracle boy falls 150 foot down Llanrhaeadr Waterfall - but survives

Onlookers watched on helplessly as the three-year-old fell from the top and landed in a deep pool at the foot of Llanrhaeadr Waterfall.

A rescuer jumped in to pluck him out of the water fearing he would drown.

Although in deep shock, the little boy was checked over by air ambulance doctors who said they were astonished that he had escaped uninjured.

The owner of the cafe next to the falls said it had been a miracle that not only the child, but also his aunt who tumbled 20 foot, had survived.

Phil Facey said the waterfall had always been seen as a sacred place to him and said: “Something really special happened here on Sunday.”

He said the boy and his aunt, from the Liverpool area, had been climbing up the left side of the waterfall at lunchtime on Sunday where there is no footpath.

“When they fell she became wedged in a tree after falling about 20 feet but the little boy seemed to fly through the air, arms flailing and landed in the pool at the foot of the waterfall.”

“A chap dived in and brought him up to the surface. I thought he was dead, he looked blue.

“Maybe miracles do happen,” he said.

While visitors to the waterfall helped Mr Facey and staff at the tea rooms care for the three-year-old, his auntie was being helped to safety by a climber who had been close by.

"He managed to climb down to her and help her up to where they could get to safety.

"He then helped her down to the bridge at the bottom of the waterfall where she was reunited with the little boy," Mr Facey said.

A Welsh Air Ambulance arrived at the beauty spot in about 20 minutes.

"There were two doctors on board who were able to check the boy and his aunt out," Mr Facey said.

"He was shocked and quite woozy so they stayed for about 45 minutes doing all the checks they needed to do before being happy to allow them to go home.

"A family member drove down to take them home."

Mr Facey said that in the 19 years he had been at Llanrhaeadr he had seen tragedies and near misses but said Sunday's incident had really affected him.

"The doctors said they could not believe the boy had survived. People have been coming here for hundreds of years because it is known as a place of reverence. in 1720 the tea room was the retreat of a hermit monk."

"The waterfall touches so many people who visit it."

Liam Randall, from the Welsh Air Ambulance, said the air ambulance and a paramedic went to the scene and treated a boy for minor injuries.