Marines rescue hillwalker who broke ankle in fall
● Soldiers carry injured woman down mountain
Royal Marines carried a stricken walker down a hillside after they chanced upon her during an exercise.
The 25-strong team from Yankee Company 45 Commando made an improvised stretcher for Susan Whitton, 56, who had broken her ankle and could not walk.
They found her crying in pain after she fell on a hill walk with husband Jimmy at Glen Clova, Angus. The couple, from Arbroath, had hired a log cabin and were walking their dog at Loch Brandy when Mrs Whitton fell.
She said: “We were actually on the easiest part of the walk when I fell and hurt my ankle.
“I actually thought I had just damaged the tendons, but I now know it was a clean break.
“I had managed to get a seat on a rock, when about 20 Royal Marines walked past, and Jimmy asked if any of them were medically trained.
“Although I was crying with the pain, I was wearing sunglasses and no-one would have known, and what made it worse, was the dog was barking at the Marines – it was quite a scene.
“They had just gone past when my husband asked if any of them were medically trained, and they immediately turned round to assist.
“I don’t know how far they carried me, but it was quite a distance, and the terrain was really quite bad in places, including marshy ground, and steep slopes.
“They were just brilliant, and they carried me down like the Queen of Sheba, but the dog was still barking and thought he was trying to protect me, so my husband had to carry the dog. Once we were back, they gave me advice about putting ice on my ankle and amazingly, after all that they just went back up the hill again.
“They were absolutely amazing, and I really can’t thank them enough.”
Sergeant Adam Barton, Yankee Company 45 Commando, was the mountain leader first classleadingagroupof25royal Marines from the Abroathbased unit who helped Susan.
He said: “I picked four of the Marines and together we made an improvised stretcher – carrying Susan back down the hill to her accommodation at the Clova Hotel.
“It proved to be some useful training for us as the Royal Marines are the United Kingdom armed forces’ specialists in cold weather and mountain warfare.
“When they said they were from Arbroath we knew we had to help.
“We hope Susan’s back on her feet soon.”