AN elderly man was airlifted to safety in a dramatic rescue on the Pennine moors above Marsden.
The walker, in his 60s, suffered serious leg injuries when he slipped and fell while taking on a challenging section of the Pennine Way in the Wessenden Valley.
The man, who was walking with a group of eight friends, slipped at the bottom of steep ravine and although it was close to a track, it was too difficult for ambulance paramedics to lift him back up the slope.
Volunteers from the Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team were called out on Saturday afternoon after one of the walkers raised the alarm.
They joined police and several paramedics from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
Mark Schofield, another walker in the area, saw the drama unfold.
“The Yorkshire Air Ambulance flew over us just as the Holme Valley Rescue Land Rover came past us.
“We spoke to some of the injured walker’s friends and apparently they were heading into Marsden to call at the beer festival at the Mechanics’ Hall. The injured man was also due to go to France on a walking trip shortly.
“That section of the Pennine Way is particularly difficult, especially downhill, although two members of the party told us they were familiar with the path having walked the way many times before.”
Owen Phillips, one of the leaders of the Holme Valley team, said: “The man had been on the Pennine Way with friends when he slipped and suffered a dislocated knee.
“They were fairly close to a track but a long way from the road and it was too difficult for the ambulance paramedics to get him back up the slope.
“We got him on a rescue stretcher and were able to carry him down and across to the air ambulance which had landed in the valley bottom.
“It was a fairly routine rescue.”
It was the latest in a series of rescues on the moors for the Holme Valley team in the past few weeks.
They are currently based at Marsden Fire Station but are to lose their headquarters when the station closes as part of cutbacks by the West Yorkshire Fire Service.
