(stock photo) At around 1:00 p.m., and following the brief but sometimes severe showers of hail and snow that swept the area on Saturday, the Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team (ASART)was alerted to two injured men close to the summit of Aran Fawddwy.
Initial reports suggested that they had sustained 3 broken legs between them, but it subsequently transpired that they had been caught up in a sudden electrical storm that disabled the mobile phone network in adjacent districts.
The men, both from Buckinghamshire and aged 58 and 37, had both experienced paralysis in the legs when lightning hit the ground about a metre away from their position. One man had regained some sensation, although the other remained unable to move his lower body.
The difficult atmospheric conditions and low cloud base made the prospect of a helicopter evacuation unlikely, and the prospect of a double stretcher evacuation over difficult terrain meant that the South Snowdonia and Aberglaslyn Rescue Teams were called to assist. In the meantime, a rapid response party from ASART and the Snowdonia National Park Ranger team got to the casualties quickly to assess the situation, and a sudden lifting of the cloud base meant that the Rescue 122 helicopter from RAF Valley was able to extract the Casualties and ferry them to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further medical care. All of the deployed teams were safely off the mountain by dusk.
Initial reports suggested that they had sustained 3 broken legs between them, but it subsequently transpired that they had been caught up in a sudden electrical storm that disabled the mobile phone network in adjacent districts.
The men, both from Buckinghamshire and aged 58 and 37, had both experienced paralysis in the legs when lightning hit the ground about a metre away from their position. One man had regained some sensation, although the other remained unable to move his lower body.
The difficult atmospheric conditions and low cloud base made the prospect of a helicopter evacuation unlikely, and the prospect of a double stretcher evacuation over difficult terrain meant that the South Snowdonia and Aberglaslyn Rescue Teams were called to assist. In the meantime, a rapid response party from ASART and the Snowdonia National Park Ranger team got to the casualties quickly to assess the situation, and a sudden lifting of the cloud base meant that the Rescue 122 helicopter from RAF Valley was able to extract the Casualties and ferry them to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further medical care. All of the deployed teams were safely off the mountain by dusk.