Tuesday 12th August 2014 – 11.15pm – Murray MacGregor.
A woman has been rescued from a narrow ledge after a two hour operation involving Buxton Mountain Rescue Team and staff from West Midlands Ambulance Service.
The woman has been climbing on Hen Cloud in the Roaches area of the Staffordshire Moorlands when she slipped and fell landing on her left ankle badly.
An ambulance and a paramedic office were joined by 16 members of the mountain rescue team including a doctor.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The 44 year old, who comes from the Buxton area, reportedly fell about six feet landing on a narrow ledge with sheer sides above and below it.
“An initial assessment suggested that she might have either dislocated or broken her left ankle, which as a result meant that she couldn’t move without help.
“The ambulance crew went up to the area where she had fallen but needed the specialist capabilities of the Mountain rescue team to winch her off the ledge and down to a piece of ground where she could then be carried back to the waiting ambulance.”
Area Support Officer, Kevin Errington, added: “When we arrived it was dry and light. By the time the woman was in the ambulance, it was not only dark but had been raining hard in the area. The combination of fading light and rain certainly made the extrication more difficult for everyone.
“The woman was made as comfortable as possible and her leg splinted before she was brought down. She was subsequently taken to Macclesfield General Hospital for further assessment and treatment.
“We’d like to thank the volunteers from Buxton Mountain Rescue Team, who were on their second call out of the day, who did a fantastic job helping us to get the patient off the mountain as quickly as possible in very difficult circumstances.
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