In the news

Shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday 21st Nov, call handlers from Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team were made aware of a walker with a head injury on Cader Idris. 

The woman, in her 40’s and from Anglesey, had slipped and hit her head whilst crossing the summit plateau between the Pen y Gader and Mynydd Moel peaks. She was bleeding profusely, and both the casualty and her partner were anxious, cold and wet. 

Team volunteers were dispatched up the mountain with equipment to perform a rescue but, given that it would take more than an hour to reach the position of the injured woman, a parallel request was placed for air support from the Coastguard Helicopter, Rescue936. The aircraft took off to support the rescue but was unfortunately forced to turn back by poor weather that had shrouded the mountains in cloud.  

Having reached the injured woman on foot, Team casualty-carers determined that she was unable to walk off the mountain. She was placed in a casualty bag on a stretcher to try and keep her warm, as the Team prepared for the prolonged and very difficult stretcher-carry down to Minffordd. As the stretcher party started to descend the main slope of Mynydd Moel, there was a hint of slightly improving weather conditions, and once again helicopter assistance was requested. This time the aircraft was able to reach the mountain, but the cloudbase meant that it could not quite reach the stretcher party. The crew landed the aircraft nearby, giving rescuers the chance to move a little further down the mountain, before they took off and winched the casualty aboard. The injured woman was flown to Ysbwyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. 

 A total of 32 Team volunteers were involved in the 7 hour rescue operation. Everyone was safely off the hill by 8:00 p.m. 

Team spokesperson Graham O’Hanlon was keen to thank the crew of Rescue936. “Without the repeated attempts in difficult conditions by R936 to assist this rescue the Team faced a long and very challenging carry down the mountain in the dark. As it was, rescuers had been attending this incident for 7 hours and without the air-lift it would have continued for a fair number more.”