A dad-of-two has shared his terrifying ordeal after falling almost 100 feet down a Stirlingshire mountain.
Donald McInnes, 53, was on a weekend climb up 3,852ft-high Ben More when he careered down the steep, icy face.
It happened in a split second as he turned to admire the view from the mountain near Crianlarich.
Within seconds he crashed down the mountain, known as one of the steepest in Scotland.
He struck rocks and ledges, causing life-threatening injuries to his vital organs and breaking bones.
Donald, from Erskine, has recounted the fall in a bid to support Killin Mountain Rescue.
He said: “I had been climbing with a friend on a challenging snow-covered Ben More when, without warning, I slipped and fell.
“All I could feel was my heels crashing and bumping down the rocky, snowy hillside. I thought that, whatever happens now, I am not going to die.
“My friend feared I had and called the emergency services while I responded to his
pleas to speak.
“I knew I was badly injured and felt a heavy weight on my chest.”
Dad falls down Ben More
Donald began to shiver and, fearing hypothermia, his friend hugged into him to keep
him warm.
His spleen, pancreas, lung and kidney were damaged, with his rib cage, pelvis and left arm all fractured.
Donald said: “I just concentrated on staying alive.”
Killin Mountain Rescue Team were called to help rescue Donald.
They were joined by a coastguard helicopter with air paramedic and the trauma and surgical teams at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Richard Eadington, Killin Mountain Rescue team leader, said: “Ben More is one of the difficult mountains to climb.
“When we got the call from the police, I knew it was difficult terrain because a simple trip or slip can have much worse consequences for climbers.
“This was one for a helicopter evacuation because the climber was likely to be seriously injured and in need of urgent medical treatment.”
Ben More rescue operation a success
While Donald was being readied to be airlifted, three mountain rescuers were lowered to attend to his friend.
Donald said: “The paramedic kept me talking, conscious, throughout the airlift and
flight to the Queen Elizabeth hospital where the A&E team and surgeons worked to save me.
“At the hospital I was told I would undergo to two operations and then be put into a coma. It was for six days.”
Donald made a quick recovery, and is already back climbing hills across the country.
He has now launched an online fundraiser to help raise money for the Killin Mountain Rescue Team.
He said: “I realised how lucky I was to be alive and wanted to do everything possible to recover and get back to my family.
“My parents have spent 70 years working in the NHS, my dad as a doctor and mum a nurse, and have always appreciated its care.
“My wife Jane and children Fraser and Zoe were at the hospital along with my brother, Hugh, within hours of me falling.
“Without Killin Mountain Rescue Team, the coastguard and all the hospital staff, I wouldn’t be here today.”
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