Warning after icy slip on moors
A FELL runner who broke his ankle on remote moorland during sub zero temperatures has told how he hobbled nearly a mile to find help.
Experienced outdoors sportsman Nick Small had ventured out onto Ovenden Moor above Calderdale, when he slipped on ice while standing up in the incident three weeks ago.
Mr Small, a coach and TV producer, had stopped for a drink and was turning around to head back when his foot contorted underneath him and he heard the snap of his fibula breaking just above his ankle.
The 58-year-old said he had no option but to walk back on a broken ankle if he were to survive the sub zero temperatures, as waiting for mountain rescue volunteers would have taken too long.
He described his walk to the nearest road as “the longest and most excruciating 0.8 miles of my life”, eventually finding another runner who helped him as he waited for a lift home.
Mr Small has now warned of the dangers of venturing onto moors and fells alone in freezing conditions without being fully prepared.
“You can be extremely experienced and prepared, but it only takes one second to slip,” he said.
“By the time I had got up off the ground, I was already cold and that was within 30 seconds. I know the area well and I realised that the nearest mountain rescue team in Mytholmroyd would be an hour away - I knew that I wouldn’t survive that given how cold it was.”
“By the time my relative came to pick me up, I was well on the way to hypothermia.”
Despite being equipped with a fully charged phone, thermals, a whistle and a first aid kit, Mr Small said he could still have been better prepared had he packed more dry clothes .
He also urged anyone to text 112 in emergencies in isolated areas as this was more likely to come through to responders than a phone call.
Fell runner forced to hobble almost a mile with a broken ankle in sub-zero temperatures