The Mourne team received two call for assistance within an hour today [ Saturday, 21-AUG-10 ]. Fortunately both were in the Glen River/Slieve Donard area which enabled a rapid response to both incidents.

The first call (received from the PSNI, Newry), was to rescue two teenagers who had become crag fast on Eagle rocks. They had attempted to take a direct line to the summit of Slieve Donard by climbing through a crag known as Eagle rocks. Unfortunately they got themselves into a position where they could neither go up nor down. As they were difficult to locate and the top of the crag very loose, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter from Dublin was requested. The helicopter winched the teenagers to safety and transferred them to Donard Park in Newcastle.

As the helicopter was being directed to a winching position, the Team received a second call for assistance. A 74 year old walker had slipped while descending Slieve Donard sustaining a head injury and lacerations to his face. A first aid team was quickly dispatched to the scene near the summit. Here they treated and stabilised the casualty until the Coast Guard helicopter was free to evacuate him to Daisy Hill hospital in Newry.

Dave Goddard
Co-ordinator