A rescue operation took place on Saturday last with the rescue of injured climbers from a Co Wicklow mountain. The climbers were part of a group which got into trouble on the Luggala peak.
A man had been seriously injured following a 30-metre fall. The injured climber was later transferred to hospital where he remains in a stable condition. The Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mountain rescue and the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams (DWMRT) were alerted by Gardai following a 999 call.
A Coast Guard helicopter transferred the rescue teams to the area. One injured climber was walked off the mountain while two others, who were more seriously hurt, were airlifted to hospital.
Secretary of the DWMRT Rita Darcy said “At that point, we were hoping that we could bring more people in the helicopter but couldn’t because of the weather and conditions. The rescuers had to set-up a rope system to access one climber, who was the most seriously injured after falling about 30 metres. They had to transfer him onto their own abseil,” she said, while adding that the person was then given morphine by a paramedic.
In deteriorating weather conditions and fading light, the injured climber was carried, with the assistance of two other climbers, through a boulder field by the rescue team to a waiting ambulance.
