A WALKER has been dramatically rescued from a famous Moorlands attraction after falling 50ft down a cliff face.
Thor's Cave
The 50-year-old man suffered fractures to his wrist and ribs after falling down a steep path while attempting to descend from Thor’s Cave, near Wetton, on Friday afternoon.
After a huge multi-agency operation he was airlifted to University Hospital of North Staffordshire by the Midlands Air Ambulance.
The man, who had been out walking with his wife, fell through dense scrubland which broke his fall, landing on a protruding tree.
He was still 50ft up on a sheer face of earth and rocks, with the River Manifold at the bottom of the valley.
The operation, which lasted more than two hours, involved more than 30 people from West Midlands Ambulance Service, Midlands Air Ambulance, Derby Mountain Rescue, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue (including their rope rescue team) and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The Hazardous Area Response Team from East Midlands Ambulance Service was also flown in by the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “First on the scene was a Community First Responder from Wetton and Alstonfields CFR scheme and two police officers who had crossed the river and climbed up to where the patient was.
“The CFR was then joined by an incident support officer from West Midlands Ambulance Service and a further two police officers. A defibrillator, oxygen and entonox were carried up.
“To bring the man to safety, they all worked together to reach him. Because of the precarious location, the man couldn’t be moved until all rescue staff and equipment were in place. He was first placed on a “scoop” stretcher. Then, the patient and the scoop stretcher he was on were placed onto a Bell Stretcher, provided by Derby Mountain Rescue who, using their ropes and expertise, lowered the patient and took him across the river to the waiting Midlands Air Ambulance.” Kevin Corcoran, from Derby Mountain Rescue Team (DRMT), told Your Leek Paper: “When the team arrived on scene after being called out at 1.45pm, the ambulance and fire service had already reached the casualty and had put him into a scoop stretcher ready for evacuation and were awaiting the specialist rescue teams.
“DMRT members arrived on site and transferred the casualty to their rescue stretcher and were then able to carry the stretcher to the valley floor, aided by a rope system.”
His wife, who was walking with him at the time of the incident, was assessed by ambulance crews at the scene and was found to be in shock, but otherwise uninjured.