Pensioner survives mountain plunge

A 65-year-old man from Oldham was airlifted to hospital on Saturday after he slipped and plunged 200 metres (650ft) down a Lake District mountain.

The unnamed man was walking in mist when he fell from Swirral Edge, close to the summit of Helvellyn and tumbled into Brown Cove. He suffered head and facial injuries.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue team joined forces with the Great North Air Ambulance to mount a rescue, but the aircraft was unable to reach the injured man because of low cloud.

Members of the mountain rescue team climbed on to Swirral Edge with a paramedic and a doctor from the air ambulance to reach the man, who was being looked after by passing walkers.

An RAF Sea King helicopter was also called out because of the dangerous location, but low cloud prevented it too from reaching the injured man, and the pilot had to wait for the weather to improve before being able to assist the rescue team.

Rescuers placed the man in a full body splint and strapped him to a stretcher before lowering him to the valley bottom, from where he was carried to the aircraft which had managed to land safely in the valley.

He was flown to Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle for further treatment.