Great Gable – Sat 25th Mar 2023

In the second deployment of the day, we were called by Cumbria Police about a walker who had slipped close to the summit of Great Gable and sustained a suspected broken ankle. Unable to bear any weight, other walkers had managed to carefully carry her down the fell most of the way to Styhead Tarn.

As some members of the team had just returned from the previous callout, and with numbers also a little low for the long and difficult carry down to Wasdale Head, additional assistance was requested from our friends at Duddon and Furness MRT and also a Coastguard helicopter. Both were able to respond quickly.

Rescue 936 mobilised from Caernarfon and was first ‘on scene’ however at this point the cloud base was too low to safely extract the casualty directly. However, we were grateful to accept the offer to lift both Wasdale and Duddon team members from Gavel Neese to Styhead Tarn, which enabled us to get help to the casualty much quicker.

Once on scene the team medics assessed and splinted the ankle, before the stretcher carry down to Styhead Tarn. Rescue 936 was then able to return to pick up the casualty and take her to hospital with some skilful flying in difficult and variable weather conditions, saving us significant effort. The teams then made their way off the fell, with the intent to go back to their respective bases and replenish vehicles. However, shortly after the vehicles got moving, the next call from Cumbria Police arrived……

Huge thanks again to the crew of Rescue 936 and Duddon and Furness MRT. Also to the walkers who stoically carried her a significant distance down from the summit. A great team effort all round. We wish the walker a quick recovery and hope to see her back on the fell soon.