Striding Edge, scene of today's rescue

A walker was airlifted from a Lakeland fell today after falling and injuring her head.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was alerted by a report from the police that a woman had fallen off Striding Edge, Helvellyn, and was in a precarious position. The team requested an air ambulance in order to deal with what they understood to be a serious injury.

The air ambulance lifted the team’s doctor, members of the rescue team and the air ambulance paramedic to the scene.

A spokesperson for Patterdale MRT said: “Initial information provided by the police indicated the woman had fallen 20 to 30ft, was now sat in a precarious location and had sustained an injury to her head.

“On arriving at scene, the casualty, a 62-year-old woman from Herefordshire, was fortunately found to be relatively uninjured. After treatment for minor head injuries, the woman was transferred to the helicopter which then took her to [the Cumberland Hospital], Carlisle.

Team members then escorted the rest of the woman’s fellow walkers off the hill.