At around 2:00 pm on Wed 1st Jan, a request was made by South Snowdonia Search and Rescue Team for Aberdyfi to assist in the rescue of a man with a back injury.
The casualty was a kayaker who had been injured when negotiating a waterfall on the remote upper reaches of the Afon Mawddach on the northern borders of the Coed y Brenin forest. He had been removed to the river bank by his colleagues, but the spot was remote.
Members of the rescue party assessed the location and the assistance of Rescue 122, the RAF Sea King Helicopter, was requested. On arrival the winch-man was lowered to assess the situation, and it was decided that the casualty could not be lifted from his current location. While arrangements were made to extract the man to a better location, the helicopter withdrew to refuel, but in the meantime the weather deteriorated and the icing risk meant the crew could not fly back to the location. This sudden turn of events meant the only option was to carry the casualty to a point where he could be collected by an ambulance. The first section of carry was through felled forestry, strewn with overgrown stumps, logs and brash. This extremely arduous terrain meant that it took well over an hour to cover a few hundred meters. The quality of the route eventually improved, although it turned uphill to climb out of the steep sided river valley. The road-head was eventually reached and the casualty was passed on to the ambulance for transfer to hospital in Bangor. Team members started to head home at around 7:00 p.m. after what might be described as a 'robust' start to the year.
The casualty was a kayaker who had been injured when negotiating a waterfall on the remote upper reaches of the Afon Mawddach on the northern borders of the Coed y Brenin forest. He had been removed to the river bank by his colleagues, but the spot was remote.
Members of the rescue party assessed the location and the assistance of Rescue 122, the RAF Sea King Helicopter, was requested. On arrival the winch-man was lowered to assess the situation, and it was decided that the casualty could not be lifted from his current location. While arrangements were made to extract the man to a better location, the helicopter withdrew to refuel, but in the meantime the weather deteriorated and the icing risk meant the crew could not fly back to the location. This sudden turn of events meant the only option was to carry the casualty to a point where he could be collected by an ambulance. The first section of carry was through felled forestry, strewn with overgrown stumps, logs and brash. This extremely arduous terrain meant that it took well over an hour to cover a few hundred meters. The quality of the route eventually improved, although it turned uphill to climb out of the steep sided river valley. The road-head was eventually reached and the casualty was passed on to the ambulance for transfer to hospital in Bangor. Team members started to head home at around 7:00 p.m. after what might be described as a 'robust' start to the year.