Kyle of Lochlash lifeboat crew finds walker in coastal woodland
VOLUNTEER crew from Kyle of Lochalsh lifeboat were called out late on Saturday night after a lone female walker became lost in the dark whilst walking in the Kinloch area of Skye.
Kyle lifeboat Spirit of Fred Olsen launched at 9pm at the request of the UK Coastguard after the walker called Police Scotland when she became disorientated whilst walking on the Kinloch coast.
The lifeboat arrived on scene at 9.20pm and began searching. Crew set off a flare to light up the area and found the woman who was signalling with a torch from dense woodland a short distance from the shoreline.
A crew member was put ashore by the lifeboat and they began walking towards the casualty’s location, however, because of the very dense vegetation this took some time.
By the time the crew member reached the casualty and confirmed she was uninjured, coastguard teams had arrived on scene and the lifeboat crew member walked the casualty to meet them.
Once the casualty was handed over to the coastguard and Police Scotland teams at 10.10pm, the lifeboat returned to Kyle where she was refuelled and made ready for service by 10.50pm.
A Kyle RNLI spokesperson said: ‘The walker knew the area where she was walking well and was equipped with a torch. When she became disorientated in an area of very thick woodland and realised she was lost and her mobile phone battery was almost flat, she did the correct thing and called the emergency services.’