The Roaches
- Call out for year: 18
- Date: 13/04/14
- Time: 10:40 am
- Grid ref: SK 00 62
- Type of incident: Climber Injured(1)
- Team members involved: 15
- Time taken: 1.5
- Total man hours: 22.5
Incident report
Buxton Mountain Rescue Team was called by West Midlands Ambulance Service following reports of a rock climber falling and sustaining serious injuries.
A forty-one year man from Walsall, leading on Fern Crack, fell a substantial distance but avoided serious injury because he was wearing a helmet. Significant damage to the helmet proved that, without it, the casualty would have suffered serious, possibly life threatening, injury. As it was the man suffered a suspected ankle fracture.
An Air-ambulance was able to land on the top of the upper tier of The Roaches and team members carried the casualty on a rescue stretcher back up Chicken Run Gully. The casualty was then flown to a Staffordshire hospital for further investigations.
2 comments
I was belaying a leader up Rooster next to where the climber fell off Fern Crack. It looked as if the climber lost his footing on the slabby upper ledge of Fern Crack slipped a distance along the slabby ledge and then fell towards Chicken Run. He seemed to be flipped upside down hitting his head against the rock a few times and it was not clear which way he would end up. As he went head first towards a ledge he was slowing down and the rope stretch made him touch the rock head first rather than impacting with full force.
Just a big thanks to all the guys who helped out on sunday and yes by wearing my helmet saved my wife a lot of lengthy paperwork