Woman rescued from Caerketton Hill after suffering a broken leg in a fall

A woman was rescued from the Caerketton Hill near to the Midlothian Ski Centre yesterday afternoon after falling and suffering a broken leg.

More than 35 mountain rescue and firefighters braved the freezing conditions to help the woman in an operation that lasted 3-hours.

Paramedics administered painkillers at the scene and a helicopter was called when rescue teams assessed that it would take too long to use a stretcher and rope rescue.

Dave Wright, Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue team leader, told BBC Scotland the conditions made the rescue difficult.

He said: “The casualty was well equipped for the walk she had planned. It was just an unfortunate slip on the top of the hill as the paths are very icy just now. In those conditions it is difficult for anyone to stay warm once they have stopped moving.

“To lower the casualty down from that height on a stretcher would have involved a technical rig and lowering it for 50m before derigging and doing the process again and again. It would have taken too long.

“We practice for this type of line rescue all the time but what would have made it difficult was the icy conditions.”