About year ago on a sunny Sunday afternoon in May, I lost my footing and slipped while topping out of Main Wall at Great Wanney crag. I fell a few feet and hit a ledge - I immediately knew that something wasn’t right. No stranger to climbing injuries; I’ve broken my hip & elbow before and the waves of intense pain I was getting in my ankle were all too familiar.  I couldn’t down climb let alone hike back to the car with the pain I was in, even with the support of my husband and friends.

My husband (and belayer) lowered me into a small cave halfway up the route. The pain soon got worse in my lower leg and there was no way I was going to be encouraged out of there without help.

While still on belay & safe in my cave (and howling with pain), a calm quick-thinking member of our group called mountain rescue giving our grid ref. coordinates and the exact route name. The NNPMR volunteer team along with the Northumbria police, paramedics and HART team, abandoned their Sunday dinners and were on the scene within the hour. Once they arrived I knew I was getting down safely. They analysed the situation, ensured it was safe for paramedics to assist me and devised a plan to evacuate me.

Among those present you could separate the climbers from the non-climbers; an unnamed individual treated my injured leg as a hold while getting up to me! Ouch. I was confused (and concerned) when Mountain Rescue prepared a nappy for me. Luckily, this nappy was actually a rescue harness which allows for extraction from constricted areas.

Once they had me out of the cave, they lowered me onto a stretcher, strapped me on, and then in ‘caterpillar formation’ a team of twelve passed my stretcher from person to person off the crag.

Sixteen team members gave four hours of their time to get me safely to the ambulance and on to Cramlington hospital A&E, where it was established that I had a broken ankle  

It’s not just climbers and hikers who are helped by this amazing organisation, but also casual ramblers and vulnerable missing people, who are located and assisted using their expertise and equipment.

In a few moments our fun day out cragging turned into a serious situation in need of professional assistance. Any of us in northeast England could find ourselves in a similar situation while out enjoying the countryside. So please support me in The Great North Run and help me smash my target of £750 to contribute towards a new response vehicle for the NNPMR!

Thank you so much for your time & generous contribution!

Emily x