Stacey Adamson, 14 was having her picture taken at a cliff in St Bees, Cumbria when she lost her footing and crashed down the steep slope and onto the rocks below.

The Hindley High pupil from Laxey Crescent also paid tribute to the two Wigan teenagers who undoubtable saved her life by raising the alarm.

Pals Kelvin Sharratt, 14 and Stephen Mann, 15 both from Lower Ince watched in horror as Stacey disappeared from view and immediately mounted their own rescue operation.

Stephen ran for 25 minutes to the life boat station to raise the alarm while Kelvin climbed down to the bottom of the cliff to help the stunned, but alive Stacey, to safety.

Kelvin said: "We were taking pictures at the top and she lost her footing in the flip flops and fell.

"She was bouncing off the rocks. When I climbed down she was conscious but covered in blood. I led her away from where she'd fell because the tide was coming in. By that time my mobile had a signal and the ambulance crews were telling me to keep her talking. She started hallucinating and talking to people who weren't there."

Stephen added: "I just ran as fast as I could to try and raise the alarm. We both thought she was going to die."

Bizarrely, as the Hindley High school pupil plummeted down the slope all she could think about was her PE kit.

Stacey said: "That's all I was thinking, it was so strange."

The freak fall happened in the school holidays after friends and family from the Wigan area went on a Hindley ARLFC rugby tour.Emergency services were alerted after the fall at 4.10pm. A ambulance technician was ferried to the scene and tended to Stacey's injuries but because of the steep cliff face and difficult terrain it wasn't until 5.30pm that Stacey was air lifted by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter to Whitehaven's West Cumberland Hospital. She needed a five hour operation to place pins in her broken wrist and 22 stitches after a large section of her forehead was ripped open.

Stacey added: "I'm very grateful to Kelvin and Stephen for everything they did for me."

Mum Deborah added: "They were brilliant. The police have told us there have been five fatalities there in the past and nobody had survived that fall. She's very lucky. If she's been on her own and they hadn't been there....well it's no understatement to say they saved her life. I can't thank them enough."

Stacey's now back home in Leigh and is expected to make a full recovery.

Both boys are pupils at Rose Bridge High in Ince. Headteacher Jack Pendlebury said: "I'm very proud of their thoughtful and courageous actions. I am sure their actions will never be forgotten by the girl or her parents."