THE lifeboat crew who rescued a woman that fell 14m from a sea wall in Gravesend thought she may have been dead when they arrived.

A major rescue operation was launched after the woman in her 40s fell from the wall in Clifton Marine Parade – behind B&Q – at around 6.40pm on Saturday (JULY 6).

She landed face down in the mud and rocks and it was initially thought, based on reports from firefighters, she had broken her pelvis and several ribs, and injured her chest, shoulder and face.

Paramedics were forced to drill into her leg and inject her with pain relief to her bone marrow, as it was difficult for them to access her veins.

Lifeboat crew member Jason Carroll said: “The fire service was en route and they asked for our assistance, so we informed London Coastguard we were launching our lifeboat.

“They were on scene when we arrived – we saw a firefighter at the base of an access ladder and the woman lying face down next to the ladder in the mud.

“At that point we were concerned she might have lost her life.”

He added: “It took some tricky manoeuvring to get the lifeboat near her because of the wash from a passing vessel but once Steve got to her he and the firefighter used the RNLI’s casualty care equipment to help her, and fit a neck collar.

“Steve then did a full head-to-toe survey, identifying a swelling in the abdomen and a suspected broken leg.

“The casualty also informed the crew at that point that she was diabetic.”

It was then decided to take the injured woman to safety by lifeboat so she was rolled onto her back into a stretcher and taken to Royal Terrace Pier.

On arrival at the shore, the lifeboat crew were met by two ambulance crews and three response cars from South East Coast Ambulance Service.

The casualty received further medical treatment and was taken to Kings College Hospital in London via land ambulance.

Gravesend RNLI Lifeboat Station manager Ian Dunkley said: ‘This was a very delicate rescue operation in some extremely challenging circumstances.

“The woman was lucky not to be more seriously injured by her fall and it’s really impressive how well my lifeboat crew worked alongside fire and rescue and ambulance service personnel to ensure she was taken to safety as quickly as possible for further treatment.”

Today, the woman remains in hospital in a stable condition.

She did not suffer any life-threatening injuries as a result of the fall.