Details of the harrowing rescue that took place shortly before dark near Gundagai have emerged as the man undergoes treatment in Sydney for a fractured femur.

Gundagai SES unit controller Ross Tout said he took a late afternoon phone call from a concerned family member.

“He said his father was trapped on a rock in the river and asked what to do,” he said. “I said ‘call the police’.”

The call triggered the SES into action, with eight members tasked to the incident. 

Mr Tout waded out with others to the rock and winched the man back to safety. 

“He was very lucky in one way,” he said.

“If he had slipped a different way he could have fallen into the river and potentially drowned.”