Paraglider pilot hurt in crash near Marlborough (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Paraglider pilot hurt in crash near Marlborough

1:49pm Wednesday 5th October 2011 in News By Nigel Kerton

Milk Hill at Alton Barnes

Firefighters worked with paramedics and an emergency doctor to carry a paraglider pilot down a steep slope on the Marlborough Downs at Alton Barnes on Tuesday evening after he had crashed into the side of the hill receiving suspected neck and back injuries.

The flyer’s injuries were thought to be serious but not life threatening.

Police were in attendance together with the ambulance personnel, the crews of two fire engines and Dr Jonathan Glover from SWIFT Medics emergency response team after a 999 call was received at about 6.20pm saying a paraglider had crashed and that the flyer was thought to be seriously injured.

The emergency services raced to Milk Hill overlooking the Pewsey vale to find the injured flyer, believed to be in his late-20’s, on the side of a very steep slope about a mile from the nearest road and near the Alton Barnes white horse.

The man had been flying with a friend who told the emergency services that when the win suddenly stopped the para glider plummeted to the ground.

Paramedics with Dr Glover climbed up to the injured pilot and prepared an emergency stretcher which had to be air lifted off the hillside by the Hampshire Air Ambulance and flown down to a waiting road ambulance which took him to Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Farmer Brian Read who owns land adjacent to the slope owned by Natural England where the paraglider crashed said he was called out to unlock gates on the access road for the emergency services.

Mr Read said: “I went up and opened the gate for them. there were two ambulances, two fire engines and the emergency doctor.

“The gist of what I was told was that he had crashed from about 20 metres onto the steepest part of the hill. The fire brigade helped carry him down the hill.”

Watch manager Chris Wootton attended with Pewsey fire fighters and he said the injured flyer was conscious and talking as they helped paramedics carry him down to the nearest level spot where the air ambulance was waiting to ferry the stretcher further down the hill to where a road ambulance was waiting.

Mr Wootton said: “We assisted with carrying the casualty from the hillside down to where the air ambulance had landed.

“We had to carry him about 300 yards and it was hellishly steep all the way down.

“It happened about a mile from the nearest road and the air ambulance had to take him down the rest of the way where he was transferred into an ordinary ambulance.

“The pilot said he only had about 15 minutes left in which to carry the casualty because of the failing light.”

The Hampshire Air Ambulance dealt with the incident because the Wiltshire ambulance helicopter was temporarily out of service.