An RAF Sea King helicopter flew the injured man to hospital

A seriously injured man was airlifted from a Lakeland fell today in an operation involving two rescue helicopters.

He was found by a passing climber after falling in Nethermost Gully on Nethermost Pike in the Helvellyn range about 1pm today, Saturday.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was alerted after the climber called police. A spokesperson for the team said: “Due to the location of the incident, the team requested assistance from the Pride of Cumbria air ambulance which attended and ferried eight team members and equipment into the base of Nethermost Cove.

“Eight team members, together with the paramedic from the air ambulance, then climbed the snow slope up the gully to the casualty site. On reaching the casualty, a 50-year-old man from Preston, he was stabilised, secured to a belay, and then treated for head, lower leg and possible spinal injuries”

A second helicopter, a Sea King from RAF Boulmer, was called to aid the rescue because of the seriousness of the man’s injuries and the distance from the valley floor.

The spokesperson continued: “The casualty was placed in a vacuum mattress and onto a stretcher lowered from the helicopter. He was then winched from the scene and flown to Carlisle Hospital for treatment.”