THE quick-thinking efforts of a mountain rescue team were re-enacted on TV after a pensioner badly broke her ankle in the Lake District.
Nick and Dee, from Tamworth, were days into their retirement dreams of driving to the Lake District in a motorhome when plans took a turn for the worst.
After camping in the Lake District for three days, the couple headed out to Wastwater when Dee fell on a stony bank near the water’s edge, injuring her ankle.
Volunteers from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team rushed to the scene, and their quick-thinking response was reimagined on the BBC series ‘Close Calls: On Camera’ with Nick Knowles.
Members of the mountain rescue team were contacted to reconstruct the event as part of the ninth series of the show, which aired on September 16.
In the episode, volunteer John talks through the sequence of events which led to Dee being airlifted to Furness General Hospital in Barrow.
He said: “It became very obvious that she was in a lot of distress and a lot of pain.
“We really were concerned that there was other things going on. I made the decision to call the helicopter in.”
The couple had struggled to contact emergency services due to poor signal, with Dee describing the mountain rescue team’s arrival as her ‘saviour’.
She said: “It was just like a vision - my saviour had come. It was incredible really - I felt safe.”
After administering pain relief, Dee was airlifted to Furness General Hospital where she underwent surgery to rebuild her ankle joint.
The couple insist on the episode that they will be hitting the road again despite the interruption to their retirement plans.
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