Rescue Volunteer with ‘life limiting injuries’ rescuing Covidiots.

[RainingBatsAndFrogs]

Fingers crossed for this mountain rescue team member who was trying to rescue one of a couple of campers who broke lockdown in the fells.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-cumbria-55978537

I know a rescue like this can happen at any time, but these 2 men put themselves at risk in a way that meant volunteers would be increasing the usual hazards of turning out on the fells in the dark, in winter temperatures, by needing to work closely, share vehicles etc, at risk of COVID infection. And mix with these 2 clowns coming from different areas.

I hope their shame weighs more heavily than the pathetic £200 fine.

Please don’t use the term covidiot’. It makes you look an idiot

What would you call them then? I think it’s an entirely appropriate name in this instance (and many, many others)

He has life changing injuries, not life limiting, unless you know more than is being reported

I can think of a few terms for them, none of which are repeatable.

What kind of lunatic goes camping in the fells in winter? They should pay for their rescue.

Totally agree with you. Couple of complete idiots. Always makes me angry that climbers/hikers go unprepared when they must have seen the weather forecast and thought they'd go anyway. Bring covid into it and it makes me more angry. Here's to hoping the volunteer is ok. You're right, they should be ashamed.

Dear god poor man. I hope his recovery goes as well as possible.

I have no words for the muppets who don’t think the rules apply to them.

@NiceTwin

He has life changing injuries, not life limiting, unless you know more than is being reported

Oh, only life changing injuries So that's just fine then

I don't really care about them breaking the covid rules but it's bloody stupid to go wild camping in the fells in the middle of a forecast snowstorm. There are 'Muppets rescued after climbing Snowdon in flip flops in metre-deep snow'-style headlines every winter and it's absolutely tragic that a rescuer was hurt this time.

Always a tricky one.

I am reminded of certain surf-rescue set-ups in Australia who used to -maybe still do?- regularly try to make going into the ocean other than between the flags illegal, like they alone own the right to venture out.

No one forces these volunteers out; they choose to do it.

I also how he has a speedy recovery.

But ^ OP, don't^ immediately discredit your point by use of the toe-curling term 'covidiot'.

It doesn't reflect well on any point you are trying to make.

I walk on fells, I sometimes camp in winter, accidents happen.

But to camp in winter in difficult terrain when you have a pre-existing condition and when you are breaking the law to put others at risk is totally irresponsible.

The Mountain Rescue Teams are amazing. I put money in their collection tins for every day’s fell walking I do when I visit the lakes.

And were they 'unprepared' or caught out by an unforeseeable medical emergency, on that could reasonably befall anyone?

I recall an endurance fell-run in the Peaks, I believe, a few years ago.

Conditions deteriorated, the organisers called it off mid-race, then treated any of the runners like they were ill-prepared idiots when they correctly remonstrated, saying they were entirely prepared for fell-running conditions, and knew they could deteriorate, but at no stage were they in danger, as they were prepared.

@RainingBatsAndFrogs

I walk on fells, I sometimes camp in winter, accidents happen.

But to camp in winter in difficult terrain when you have a pre-existing condition and when you are breaking the law to put others at risk is totally irresponsible.

The Mountain Rescue Teams are amazing. I put money in their collection tins for every day’s fell walking I do when I visit the lakes.

It transpires 90% of us have a pre-existing condition, doesn't it? 😉

Oh bollocks to the Covidiot term. Shorthand in a title. The discussion stands or falls in its merits.

I am sorry for misquoting ‘changing’ as ‘limiting’ though.

A discussion stands or falls on the language used to put one's point.

Well done you for your contributions to the mountain rescue; but- what if the 60 year old who fell had a pre-existing condition?

No one is forcing them out. The fact this person had an accident is actually completely divorced from why he'd joined up and gone out. It is not the fell-Walker who developed chest pain's fault he had this accident.

And yet just the other day somebody was posting about having got lost whilst out walking in some forest, having gone out by public transport, without money, without suitable clothing or footwear, and actually stumbling around lost without a map or anything else, no mobile signal and only a short distance from "civilisation"... and the majority of posters thought that expecting someone to have more sense than going out in this weather, unprepared, to a place you don't know, was very unreasonable.

I recall, many moons ago, observing a woman taking a walk up a Lake District mountain. Admittedly it was summer. But I did think the three inch stilettos that she was wearing were perhaps not really fit for purpose.

Agreed no one forced volunteers out, and I assume most do it because they themselves appreciate and enjoy the same activities as those they rescue.

But camping in the high fells when you have a pre existing medical condition that involves chest pains and when you are breaking the law to do so seems to be placing a huge strain on the bond of human compassion that is behind volunteer rescue teams.

But anyway, anything I say is of no relevance due to word in OP, so.,,

@Miljea

If these two men hadn't broken lockdown rules by travelling up to the Lake Distrkct from Leicester and Liverpool, if they had not thought that it was a good idea to go wild camping in the middle of winter when there was snow forecast then mountain rescue would not have needed to be called. The poor man who fell would not have been there in bad conditions.

I live near the lake district. Mountain rescue has had a massive increase in calls from unprepared idiots trying to climb mountains. Some of them weren't even in trouble. They were just tired and fancied a lift back down. That is not what mountain rescue is for. Some people didn't even know what mountain they were on.

I'm an experienced paddler as are other members of the household.

We haven't paddled during any lockdowns or restricted periods because of the tiny risk of needing a rescue service. None of us ever has needed a rescue and I hope we never will. I wish the campers well but I wouldn't have gone to the fells at this time. And, as desperate as I am to be on the water again, none of us will be on the water until we're out of the current restrictions.

It is not the fell-Walker who developed chest pain's fault he had this accident.

Actually, when that person is breaking the law and knows full well they are, then I think it is appropriate to assign fault. Accidents happen. But they did not accidentally decide to go camping with someone they do not live with, when the activity is illegal and they know that. They did that deliberately. And therefore all consequences of that deliberate decision rest with them.

I’m finding it hard to believe that anyone could have anything other than the utmost sympathy for the injured rescuer.

@Miljea

And yes, the rescuer chose to go out. He chose to leave his home and put his life at risk for the sake of others. Mountain rescuers are bloody heroes - volunteer heroes - and we owe it to them to not take such reckless risks. Like camping in the middle of winter. That's a bloody stupid thing to do when you are young and healthy, let alone when you have underlying conditions. What those two men did was stupid and selfish and having mental health problems is not an excuse for what they did. Pretty much everyone has had mental health issues due to Covid but it does not give us the right to go out and put ourselves in a situation where others are going to have to put themselves at risk to come and rescue us.

The 2 men were in the wrong but anyone who uses the term "covidiot" makes my skin crawl.

This guy had two previous heart episodes. This wasn't out of the blue. I live by this mountain. We have had a pretty lovely month weather wise. There were nights where actually I would have said they were caught out. That night wasn't one of them. It was freezing and very, very windy. It wasn't a nice clear winter evening. All of that was predicted in the weather forecast. They were not caught out. Yes they were unprepared and shouldn't have been up there. There are no justification for thinking that was a reasonable place to come from Lincolnshire and Liverpool. The Mountain Rescue have done so much work trying to explain to the public exactly what a covid secure rescue looks like and how so, so much more difficult that is at the moment. This man was a volunteer who got out of his bed on a freezing, windy February night because he loves the fells and wants everyone to enjoy them. But that doesn't mean at the moment and it doesn't mean without taking proper precautions.

The Lake District takes no pleasure in telling visitors not to come. South Lakeland has the highest proportion of people on furlough in the country. The industry, livelihoods, communities are all suffering. Many won't recover. But we are still asking people not to come because the infrastructure isn't there to keep everyone safe.

The mountain rescue volunteer has life changing injuries. It was reported on local radio today that he may never walk again.

BooksAndWine that is terrible. Really sad.

The ‘Stay at Home, Save Lives’ slogan works in many ways. And not being the cause of a call out for lifeboats, MRT and other emergency services is one of them.

@Shelovesamystery maybe there is a rescue service or helpline for crawling skin?