Hazely Law

Incident Type: Rescue

A couple had walked from Alwinton up onto the Border Ridge via The Street and then on towards Windy Gyle. On approaching the summit, one of the walkers aggravated a previous injury which made it difficult for them to walk. The couple struggled onto Hexpeth Gate and started to descend towards the Hazely Law. Unfortunately the discomfort and pain levels continued to increase and they could go no further.

Whilst they still had mobile reception, a 999 call to Northumbria Police was made and soon after North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and ourselves were alerted. Those members who had been training and two 4×4 response vehicles were immediately deployed towards Upper Coquetdale, while our Duty Controller ascertained an exact location using PhoneFind and contacted the couple to provide reassurance that we were on our way.

Within an hour, two Team members were on scene at the location half way between the Scottish Border and Hazely Law. Other members with vital rescue equipment were not far behind.

After an initial assessment by our Medic, the injured party was packaged on the Titan stretcher and then carried 400m over tussocky ground to the response vehicles on the nearest forest access track.

While equipment was retrieved from hill, one of our response vehicles transported the injured party and their partner down to Slyme Foot at the bottom of The Street. The injured party was then handed over into their care of the North East Ambulance Service. Once all equipment and members were off the hill, the Mountain Rescue Teams stood down.

A good swift and efficient response. The walkers did exactly the right thing by alerting the emergency services rather than trying to self rescue and risking further aggravation to the injury. We hope the walker makes a swift and full recovery.

The incident involved 9 Team members for 3 hours 25 minutes. A further 23 members were on standby in case the incident escalated.