Paraglider airlifted to hospital

A PARAGLIDER has been airlifted to hospital after crashing into a Welsh hillside.

The incident happened at Hay Bluff in the Black Mountains, about five miles south of Hay-on-Wye, on Saturday morning.

Longtown Mountain Rescue Team was contacted by DyfedPowys Police after it had received a report a paraglider had crashed.

Initially it was thought that the casualty had sustained a knee injury but, according to mountain rescuers, it soon became clear that he had in fact suffered injuries described as “severe”. Such was the remote and difficult position of where the crash took place, the Rescue 187 Coastguard helicopter, which had arrived from St Athan, had to transport rescuers and their equipment to the crash site so that they could attend to the injured paraglider.

Meanwhile, a paramedic was in the area at the time and was able to give the injured man immediate first aid.

“The casualty’s location and injuries meant that winching onto the helicopter would be difficult and it was decided that the best option was for the team to raise the casualty up the hill slope first,” a spokesman for Longtown Mountain Rescue said.

“To achieve this the helicopter did shuttle lifts to get the team and its equipment from Hay Common to the summit in record time.

“Quite quickly we had a casualty carer team member on scene with the casualty who assessed that, due to the precarious location of the casualty, a rope system was the best way to get him into a position of safety.”

Once the injured man had been rescued from the hillside he was airlifted to a Cardiff hospital for treatment.

The spokesman for the mountain rescue team added: “We would like to say a big thank you to Rescue187 for their help as always, to the casualty’s friends who stayed with him throughout and also the passing paramedic who was able to give immediate medical aid.”