A local family rode up from Betws Y Coed onto the mountain bike trails in Penmachno, the father went over the handle bars of the bike landing on the crown of his head.

The poor signal in the area meant that friends of the family in the village were asked to help, including a local team member. It was quite clear that the casualty had all the signs of a c-spine fracture, a full callout was initiated with paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service attending too.

Having not moved for over an hour, the by now cold casualty was covered in a Blizzard Survival Blanket, placed in a full body vacuum mattress to stabilise his neck and back, then into a team stretcher. A short but tricky stretcher carry saw everyone back onto the forestry track for a further 300 metre carry to the waiting ambulance and further care.

We are proud to support Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue in their life saving work!