Brackley man who suffered nasty fall while taking one final photo of waterfall is making a good recovery one year later
A Brackley man who broke his leg and hip falling while taking pictures at a Yorkshire Dales beauty sight has thanked the air ambulance for saving his life.
Amateur photographer Lee Oliver travelled to the Swaledale Valley with wife Jan in September last year.
The 72-year-old had recently taken up wildlife photography and wanted to take pictures of the waterfalls in the Keld area.
This ambition led the Brackley man to take a heavy fall and rely upon the emergency services to rescue him.
Lee said: “We started with East Gill Falls and then moved on to Kisdon. It’s a little off the beaten track with a bit of a rocky descent to the waterfall and my wife was recovering from quite a big operation so she was unprepared to attempt the climb down to the ground level.
“I left her partway down and continued on so I could get my pictures. Jan was unhappy about me going that far and soon I disappeared from her sight.
“I got my pictures but wanted a special one with a small waterfall in the background. I was rushing because I didn’t want my wife worrying for too long. That’s when I must have made the wrong move.”
Lee ended up falling about 12 to 15 feet and hit his head twice on the rock face before coming to a stop next to the water’s edge.
He said: “After a few seconds in shock I came to and tried to move my leg, I felt nothing and when I moved it with my hand I knew I was in trouble.
“I shouted at the top of my voice for Jan but she failed to hear me the first time and after another five minutes she appeared. Needless to say, she almost passed out herself. I had blood on my head and she thought I may have got a brain bleed.”
Thankfully, Lee’s wife Jan was able to find help at a nearby campsite and the emergency services were called.
Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the Coastguard helicopter, RAF Leeming Mountain Rescue Team and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) then worked to recover Lee from the valley.
They discovered that Lee had snapped his femur and broken part of his hip and carried him on a stretcher to the waiting air ambulance.
He was then airlifted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough where he underwent surgery to have two rods inserted into his femur.
He said: “Drifting in and out of consciousness I can remember moments when I was carried on a stretcher up the rock face, to see my wife briefly and then being loaded into the helicopter.”
One year on Lee has made a fantastic recovery, using the gym to rebuild the strength in his legs and is currently able to walk several miles.
Lee said: “I am still alive and living my life pretty much the same pre-catastrophe. All of this thanks to my wife, who suffered quite badly for months after, the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team and everyone at Rukin’s Farm campsite in Keld.
“A very special thank you to GNAAS, an organisation run solely on charitable donations. We never expect to be in the situation where we really need others’ help but when we do, it’s comforting to know that help is there.
“I am forever indebted to all these people for their tireless work, without them I would probably not be here today sharing my story.”