Rescuers and the Coastguard helicopter at the scene in Greenup Gill. Photo: Keswick MRT

A walker crawled for up to four hours after being injured in a fall on a Lake District fell.

Rescuers said the man’s efforts to get to safety evoked the spirit of the late mountaineer Doug Scott, famed for his descent of The Ogre with two broken legs.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was called out about 7.50pm on Monday after the alarm was raised.

A team spokesperson said: “After a day in the fells a man was descending from Eagle Crag when he slipped and fell on steep ground.

“The man suffered multiple injuries including a broken upper arm, lower leg and broken ribs.

“Being a long way from the beaten path his whistles went unheard so, as he said, in the spirit of the late Doug Scott and his epic descent of The Ogre, he spent the next three to four hours crawling very painfully down the slope.

“Eventually he reached the lower slopes of Greenup Gill and was spotted by walkers from the path on the other side of the stream.”

Two of the group ran down the valley to Stonethwaite and alerted rescue services while another stayed with the inured man, bandaging his broken leg and offering reassurance.

The spokesperson said: “An air ambulance had been requested but when the situation became clearer – the location and the extent of the man’s possible injuries – this was stood down and the Coastguard requested for a likely winch evacuation.

“The man was assessed by a team doctor and given strong analgesia before he was put onto a stretcher to await the Coastguard helicopter.

“Fortunately there was a large enough low-angle area close by that the helicopter was able to land light – still under power so as not to sink into the soft ground – to enable the man to be loaded for onward transport to hospital.”

The incident involved 21 Keswick MRT members for almost 3¾ hours.

Doug Scott, who died in December last year, famously in 1977 crawled down The Ogre in the Karakorum after breaking both legs in a fall. His climbing companion Chris Bonington later broke two ribs, resulting in him suffering from pneumonia.

Rescuers approach the air ambulance on Blease Fell. Photo: Keswick MRT

The Keswick team had earlier been called out to Blease Fell on the Blencathra massif when an experienced paraglider suffered a heavy landing after his canopy partially collapsed.

The spokesperson said: “A team member who was on Blease at the time helped ensure a rapid deployment of resources.”

The Great North Air Ambulance flew to the scene and assessed the man’s injuries and provided pain relief.

When Keswick MRT members arrived at the site, they placed the man in a vacuum mattress and stretchered him a short distance up the hill to the helicopter which flew him to hospital in Carlisle.

Twelve team members were involved in the rescue, which lasted just over 1¾ hours.