Rescuers at work during the incident on Corn Du. Photo: Brecon MRT

Rescuers at work during the incident on Corn Du. Photo: Brecon MRT

An outdoor instructor was praised by rescuers after he helped an injured walker and raised the alarm when he came across the man on south Wales’s second-highest mountain.

The 26-year-old from Tonypandy was on his first trip up the Brecon Beacons hills when he fell while on 873m (2,864ft) Corn Du.

The walker, who was on the mountain with his partner, injured his leg in the fall yesterday.

Rescue teams said it was lucky he and his girlfriend were spotted by an outdoor instructor and his party as their mobile phones had run out of battery and they were unable to raise the alarm themselves.

The instructor checked the man for injuries, protected him from the poor weather by putting him in a shelter and on a camping mat for insulation and rang 999, asking the police to call mountain rescue.

Rescuers said conditions on the mountain were atrocious. Photo: Brecon MRT

Rescuers said conditions on the mountain were atrocious. Photo: Brecon MRT

Twenty volunteers from Brecon, Central Beacons and Longtown Mountain Rescue Teams and Western Beacons Mountain Search and Rescue Team went to his aid.

Poor weather conditions, with heavy rain and low cloud, meant rescue helicopters were unlikely to have reached him and he was carried more than a mile down the mountain by mountain rescue team members.

The man was then transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, suffering from a suspected broken ankle.

Dave Coombs, deputy team leader of Brecon MRT said: “The weather conditions in the mountains were atrocious yesterday and it was fortunate that the couple were spotted by an outdoor instructor and training group as they were unable to raise the alarm themselves.

“This would have been a far more serious incident had the instructor and his group not helped. They were able to keep the gentleman warm and give the rescue team a very accurate location.

“This saved a lot of time and meant we were able to reach the casualty very quickly. We are extremely grateful to them.”

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