After record 3,629 callouts last year in England and Wales, crews say there’s no sign pandemic trend for heading to great outdoors is waning
The light is fading fast in the Peak District and, somewhere between the heather and the hills, comes an urgent cry for help. Emergency responders scramble into action, reeling off grid references into walkie talkies as they search for their casualty: “Hello? Mountain rescue!”
They find their walker on the cusp of a valley, his ankle badly twisted and hypothermia setting in. The 18 volunteers – teachers, doctors, joiners – heave the man on to a stretcher and carry him more than a mile to safety.