A HIKER has issued a warning to fellow hillwalkers about wearing bright colours after a freak accident on a Munro resulted in her being airlifted from the mountain.
Bekah Cork was well prepared for her hike up Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan in Glenfinnan, Highlands, with her friends on Saturday.
The 32-year-old from Berkshire had filled her backpack with all the necessary gear for the trip but ended up tripping over a few hours in.
The head of concerts and residencies at the Philharmonia Orchestra in London said she was not walking on complex ground when she fell, but instead a flat area.
However, the incident left her with a dislocated and broken ankle and fortunately the group were able to contact Scottish Mountain Rescue who airlifted her off the hill.
The team worked swiftly to get to Bekah’s location using the OS grid reference given and the whole ordeal was over in just two and a half hours.
Bekah has now urged fellow hikers to be aware of what they need when they go out hillwalking and advised others to wear bright clothes to be easily found.
The keen hiker had foil blankets, head torches and several layers with her to keep warm as she waited to be rescued.
Bekah thanked the Scottish Mountain Rescue on Facebook yesterday, writing: “To Lochaber Mountain Rescue team, I’ve always admired and respected your work.
“I’ve always hoped never to need you but since I did you were really the best thing ever.
“You got to me fast, you were kind, gave me awesome drugs and cared.
“You’re also all volunteers, but meeting you, you’d never know it.
“This just makes what you do even more impressive.
“You’re deserving of every penny that can be raised for you.”
Her post received hundreds of likes and comments from social media users.
Haven Shank said: “Thank you for sharing and heal quickly, going to be more mindful on our next outing.”
Donna Maria Wood said: “That must have been scary, great advice, glad you are ok and wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Anna Danby said: “An important story, well told, thanks for sharing. Hope you heal quickly and are back in the hills soon.”
Joanna Kavanagh said: “Thanks for sharing this – some really useful information. Hope you recover quickly.”
Speaking today, Bekah said: “We were between the two Munros at Glenfinnan and I slipped on a bit of mud and my ankle just went the wrong way.
“My friend thought I had ducked out of the way of a bird but I stayed down and they came to see me.
“One of my friends had saw what happened but the other was ahead and had to come back.
“I was so lucky that I had extra layers on me because the weather is so unpredictable, I had brought my waterproofs and another jacket just in case.
“When we called the Police they wanted a what3words which is a geocode system but my friends did not have that app but luckily I did.
“We had the grid reference and Scottish Mountain Rescue were with me within an hour of me falling.
“They arrived and immediately began treatment, they gave me some painkillers and as there was some concern about the dislocation, they reset it at the scene.
“I was given strong painkillers and some gas and flown to a helipad in Fort William and taken into hospital.
“The doctors said I suffered a dislocated and broken ankle, it is still broken, the operation is next week.
“I was discharged on Saturday night and got back to the hotel before going home.
She added: “I cannot speak highly enough of Scottish Mountain Rescue, they were amazing, they were efficient and quick.
“They actually praised us for having bright clothes on and said it makes it much easier to find people.
“They were going straight to another job when they dropped me off and these people are partly volunteers which is incredible.
“They don’t get enough thanks for the job that they do.
“I hoped never to need them but they were there for me and they did a fantastic job.”
Scottish Mountain Rescue volunteers gave up over 31,000 hours of their time during call outs in 2021.
