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A man in his forties from Leicester who has a history of heart difficulties and who broke lockdown rules to head to Cumbria and camp with his friend on Red Screes called for rescue after developing chest pain, leading to a mountain rescue team member falling and sustaining serious injuries.

“I completely regret everything," said the man from Leicester "My actions that night will live me forever, because of what happened." He and his friend, who is from the Liverpool area, were handed fixed penalty notices of £200.


I can't believe this; how incredibly irresponsible for a grown man with a previous history of heart difficulties to camp on Red Screes in appalling weather :mad:

I only have sympathy for the incredibly dedicated Mountain Rescue Volunteers - they are selfless heroes.
 
He broke his back.

I'm on two sides with this to be fair and have sympathy for both. Just because you've had a heart attack doesnt mean you should sit at home and live in a bubble worrying for the rest of your life about another.
This could have happened at any time outside a pandemic, but also this would never have happened had they stayed at home and ultimately they started a chain of events that unfortunately has someone is laid up in hospital with life changing injuries from trying to assist them.

Hopefully the team member makes a complete recovery it's horrible to know someone has been injured selflessly helping others free of charge.

Most accidents can be avoided though, and without wanting to blame or sound negative, through good intentions or calculated risks an error was made for someone experienced with equipment to end up falling 150 metres down a steep slope.
Hopefully learning is done from what went wrong to prevent it happening again as the number one priority above all else should be for rescuers to get home safely.

I'm on a few outdoor sites and the hate for this man is unneeded it's like a public stoning. I have every ounce of respect for MR, and once I finish uni and have more free time I'll be looking to join them. That said they know the risks and they are also highly trained to take precautions I don't see why all the blame is pointed towards this man it was an unfortunate accident.
 
. . . once I finish uni and have more free time I'll be looking to join them. That said they know the risks and they are also highly trained to take precautions I don't see why all the blame is pointed towards this man it was an unfortunate accident.
I don't know what you are studying at University but I would hope that by the time you finish you will have acquired some common sense and common decency.
Near the top of Red Screes the rescue went horribly wrong. Visibility was poor on the top amid snow flurries and it was very, very cold due to significant wind chill brought in by stronger winds.

The rescue team did not need to be out that night. A medical emergency like that at home would have been dealt with at home by an ambulance crew not a rescue team which then turned into 3 rescue teams and a helicopter crew so I'm absolutely clear that this was a completely avoidable rescue.

There's nothing in the regulations that say you can travel multiple miles and camp. You know local people are not doing that so why they were there I do not understand and I genuinely hope that they are reflecting really hard on the consequences of their decisions.
For someone with a heart condition who has reported to have had two heart operations and is allegedly suffering from PTSD, anxiety and depression to have gone up Red Screes without his medication and camped overnight in the atrocious prevailing conditions is inexcusable.

It was not an "unfortunate accident", it was incredibly stupid and selfish.
 
I agree. Had this happened in any other time it’s a terrible accident and just something that happens.

Whilst those involved shouldn’t have been out. The fact they broke lockdown had no bearing on the outcome.

On the other hand. Camping in bad weather and putting themselves at risk beyond their abilities was reckless.
 
I don't know what you are studying at University but I would hope that by the time you finish you will have acquired some common sense and common decency.For someone with a heart condition who has reported to have had two heart operations and is allegedly suffering from PTSD, anxiety and depression to have gone up Red Screes without his medication and camped overnight in the atrocious prevailing conditions is inexcusable.

It was not an "unfortunate accident", it was incredibly stupid and selfish.

Common sense why? Because my opinion differs from yours oh highly intelligent one :rolleyes:
Not that even what I'm studying at uni has any relevance with my outdoor experience but okay.. Decency? Because it's true? You don't jump in the sea to save somebody else without taking precautions to ensure you yourself are safe. Everyone is acting like the man pushed the team member off a cliff when it was an unfortunate accident all round.

People camp out in bad weather all the time he didn't call mountain rescue because he was ill equiped he called them because he was having heart problems.
I've wild camped in snow and high winds quite a few times and on top of fells, loads do it and get by okay - does that make me stupid and selfish?

"reported"... it seems like every man and his dog knows everything about this guy from hear say or news outlets but the truth is you don't know anything about him. This could have been his 1st, 10th or 50th time after his last heart attack he has camped out it's all speculation unless you know the person personally.

If he obeyed lock down rules this would never have happened I agree, and he will have to live with the guilt of making that mistake, but if this pandemic never existed it would have just been considered a tragic accident.
As I've stated earlier it's unfortunate and sad any person on a rescue ends up injured let alone with life changing injuries, and I have the utter most respect for all MR and what they do, but it's no secret it is inherently dangerous, involves risk and accidents though rare do happen. Hopefully future potential accidents can be prevented by learning from them instead of trying to make it a culture of blame.
 
The guys I've spoken to aren't judgemental. They'd rather people were out in the mountains and a lot of them learnt through their own mistakes anyway. Two of my friends were caught out off route high up on the north face of the Ben a couple winters ago and were involved in a technical all night rescue with about 20 MRT. In the debrief one of the guys told them that although they made some mistakes, it was good to see them out giving it a go.


If he obeyed lock down rules this would never have happened I agree, and he will have to live with the guilt of making that mistake, but if this pandemic never existed it would have just been considered a tragic accident.
As I've stated earlier it's unfortunate and sad any person on a rescue ends up injured let alone with life changing injuries, and I have the utter most respect for all MR and what they do, but it's no secret it is inherently dangerous, involves risk and accidents though rare do happen. Hopefully future potential accidents can be prevented by learning from them instead of trying to make it a culture of blame.

I agree, unfortunately it's a tragic accident. It's a slippery slope when you start apportioning blame. Exactly the same could have happened during any rescue at any other time, lockdown or not. Accidents can happen to anyone. Look at Andy Nisbet the other year, one of the most experienced climbers going and him and his partner slipped and fell on the descent after just putting up a new route.
 
The guys I've spoken to aren't judgemental. They'd rather people were out in the mountains and a lot of them learnt through their own mistakes anyway. Two of my friends were caught out off route high up on the north face of the Ben a couple winters ago and were involved in a technical all night rescue with about 20 MRT. In the debrief one of the guys told them that although they made some mistakes, it was good to see them out giving it a go.




I agree, unfortunately it's a tragic accident. It's a slippery slope when you start apportioning blame. Exactly the same could have happened during any rescue at any other time, lockdown or not. Accidents can happen to anyone. Look at Andy Nisbet the other year, one of the most experienced climbers going and him and his partner slipped and fell on the descent after just putting up a new route.

All MR opinions I've heard is that they don't judge. Obviously they are human and will form an opinion and I don't blame them, especially with some of the call outs on 2020. You generally do learn best from mistakes it's all about pushing yourself within reasonable limits and unfortunately some get caught out, although some are just brain dead.

I was on Helvellyn the end of last year in full winter conditions and 3 lads with carrier bags between their feet and trainers were clambering over striding edge clearly out of their depth and ill equiped. One of my friends borrowed one who was very nervous some spare microspikes and an axe. He dropped the axe at the bottom near the end where we set up a rope to get all 3 down off striding and whilst my friend was taking down the rope and descending himself they carried on and left us. Granted we went up nethermost gully and not the usual to Helvellyn but he never seen his spikes again lol
 
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I don't know what you are studying at University but I would hope that by the time you finish you will have acquired some common sense and common decency.For someone with a heart condition who has reported to have had two heart operations and is allegedly suffering from PTSD, anxiety and depression to have gone up Red Screes without his medication and camped overnight in the atrocious prevailing conditions is inexcusable.

It was not an "unfortunate accident", it was incredibly stupid and selfish.

Who decides which health conditions mean you shouldn't be allowed into the hills?
Do you think people with asthma should be allowed?
Anyone who wears glasses should obviously be banned - if you don't have perfect vision you're more likely to trip.
And clearly anyone with a BMI higher than 25 is also being incredibly selfish if they venture into the hills!
 
Who decides which health conditions mean you shouldn't be allowed into the hills? . . .
I certainly think that someone with known heart problems should not be camping out on Red Screes in appalling weather conditions during the lockdown. Doing so was incredibly irresponsible and selfish - in my personal opinion.
Chris Lewis, a mountain rescue volunteer may never walk again after falling 150 metres during a callout to two lockdown breakers in the Lake District.

He was part of the Patterdale mountain rescue team that went to the aid of the two campers from Liverpool and Leicester after one fell ill, believing he was having a heart attack. It was pitch black and cold enough that the team’s oxygen cylinders froze when Lewis slipped and fell. (LINK)
Your opinion seems to be different - c'est la vie.


On 6 February, during a rescue, a member of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was very seriously injured following a 150 metre fall. His injuries are life-changing and this fund is to provide the support he will need for the rest of his life. - https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Chris-Lewis-Support-Fund-LDSAMRA-Patterdale-MRT
 
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I think the anger directed at the 2 idiots who broke lockdown is justifiable considering they seemed to think the rules didn't apply to them and have now cause somebody to be in a wheelchair because of their selfish attitudes
 
More than £560,000 has been raised so far to help Chris Lewis, the mountain rescue volunteer who suffered life-changing injuries following a 150 metre fall while going to the aid of the morons who had driven more than a hundred miles and broken coronavirus lockdown restrictions in order to spend the night together in a tent on Red Screes in appalling weather conditions.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Chris-Lewis-Support-Fund-LDSAMRA-Patterdale-MRT
 
I think the anger directed at the 2 idiots who broke lockdown is justifiable considering they seemed to think the rules didn't apply to them and have now cause somebody to be in a wheelchair because of their selfish attitudes

Yes, I agree. Definitely no excuses in these circumstances. I think, in normal times, it's not so easy to decide who should be allowed into the hills and who is being selfish by going out based on physical fitness and medical history (particularly when the only information to go on is media reports).
 
So with roadmap released, my understanding is that we can resume day trips from 29th March when travel restrictions are lifted?
 
So with roadmap released, my understanding is that we can resume day trips from 29th March when travel restrictions are lifted?
I think that the question of "distance" is ill-defined.

It is depressing that people are already wild-camping in the Lake District and as usual, leaving masses of litter on the hills :(
 
I think that the question of "distance" is ill-defined.

It is depressing that people are already wild-camping in the Lake District and as usual, leaving masses of litter on the hills :(

Yeah I imagine that will be a problem, remember how much more mess there was after first lockdown.

I of course hike with "leave no trace" mantra, way I'm looking at it though, day trips are ok from end of March? Be nice to get out for a decent hike after all this time.
 
I think that the question of "distance" is ill-defined.

It is depressing that people are already wild-camping in the Lake District and as usual, leaving masses of litter on the hills :(

And you know first hand wild campers are responsible for littering how? What a bizzare statement to make.

All the wild campers I know personally, including myself are quite big on leave no trace.
 
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