A WOMAN, who fractured her spine and knee after falling 800ft while climbing in Glencoe, is expected to be able to walk out of hospital within a matter of weeks, medical staff said yesterday, writes William Tinning.
Doctors and rescue team members said Ms Sarah Woodroff, 20, from Durham, who slipped on Tuesday afternoon while descending Bidean Nam Bian with a male companion, was lucky to be alive.
A spokesman at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital yesterday described her condition as comfortable.
''She is a very lucky young lady. She has broken a bone in her neck but has not damaged the spinal chord or suffered any neurological damage,'' the spokesman said.
''She will suffer no permanent damage from the fall. She is expected to be able to walk out of hospital in two to three weeks.''
It emerged yesterday, that her companion Alec Bowden, 20, also a student, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, tried to raise the alarm but was unable to descend the mountain due to failing light. Passing climbers heard their calls and alerted the rescue services.
Ms Woodroff, described as an experienced mountaineer, was airlifted to Belford Hospital, Fort William, and later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit at the Southern General, where she was treated for fractures to the cervical spine and left knee cap.
Mr Paul Williams, secretary of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, said yesterday that Ms Woodroff slipped and fell down a steep snow-covered slope just below the summit of the highest peak in Glencoe, and her injuries could have been far worse.
''If the snow had been rock hard she would have gone off like a rocket, but as it was, the snow was fairly soft,'' he said.
Although weather conditions at the time were generally mild the rescue operation was hampered by mist, making it difficult for the rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth to land.
Warrant Officer Eddie Pratt, from the RAF rescue co-ordination centre, said: ''It was a long way to fall. She is a lucky woman to be alive.''
Ms Woodroff is a second-year geography student at the University of Durham's Grey College and is a member of the university's mountaineering club.
Meanwhile, a search instigated following fears that climbers might have been caught in an avalanche in Observatory Gully at the foot of Ben Nevis was called off last night without finding trace of anyone.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article