Twelve-year-old Madison Billens' friends watched in horror as she suddenly disappeared down a 10-metre deep cave hidden in the ground, during a birthday party treasure hunt yesterday.
One moment she was running, the next she was sliding down a deep hole - known as a tomo - in
an area of limestone pockmarked with caverns in the Clifton area near Takaka.
"It was quite fun, it felt like I was flying at first, until I hit the ground," Madison said from Nelson Hospital's emergency department. "At first I thought I was paralysed, but then I was moving."
Then the pain of her damaged leg kicked in.
Stranded alone down a dark passage, she could yell to her friends 10 metres above her as they called to reassure her.
"They were trying to make me feel better and stuff."
At the hospital she was still clutching a teddy bear that one of her friends had thrown down to comfort her during the three hours she awaited rescue.
Madison said the time passed "like 10 minutes" - her mother BJ Pocock believes she lost consciousness for a time - before rescuers in the Nelson-Marlborough Rescue Helicopter pulled her to safety.
"I knew I was going to get out, because I could see everyone," Madison said.
Pocock said she panicked when told of the accident. "I had a quick cry and then raced to the hospital."
Pilot Tim Douglas-Clifford said rescuers extracted Madison from the tomo, amid dense bush, using ropes.
"She was pretty calm about it. I think she was a bit disturbed... she was extremely relieved to come out."
He said her friends were distraught.
Madison said her leg was still "swollen and sore", but hospital staff said it did not appear broken. "I've got lots of cuts and bruises and scratches."
Douglas-Clifford said it was "fairly common" to rescue people from tomos, especially the large Harwood Hole on Takaka Hill, in which some people had died. "[Madison] said she'll stay away from dark holes now," he said.
