Leicestershire climber airlifted to safety in dramatic rescue at 15,000ft
A mountaineer had to be airlifted to safety in a dramatic helicopter rescue at 15,000ft.
Craig Maguire succumbed to altitude sickness on the upper slopes of Mont Blanc, in the French Alps.
The 41-year-old, of Sileby, had been part of an eight-man expedition to climb the 15,781ft (4,810m) peak.
He was tantalisingly close to the summit when he got into serious trouble.
"I was having difficulty breathing earlier in the climb but was determined to carry on," he said.
"At 4,000m it started to get much worse. I was gasping for air and could not breath.
"I had a splitting headache and terrible nausea but was so close I really thought I could make it."
The decision to end Craig's climb was taken by a guide.
"I don't think I quite realised the danger I was in – but that's one of the effects of altitude sickness, it makes thinking clearly very difficult," he said.
Craig was put in a survival suit to protect him from hypothermia as the team waited about an hour for the helicopter to arrive.
"That was the worst part," he said. "The cold was unbearable."
Craig, production manager at Leicester pork pie-maker Walkers and Sons, in Beaumont Leys, was joined on the five-day expedition by colleagues from the Samworth Brothers group.
They included Walkers managing director Peter Quinn and Gary Johnston, from Thrussington.
After trekking from Cham-onix to base camp at 3,000m, the team began their 12-hour summit push at 1.30am on Wednesday.
Peter, 47, from Sileby, said: "It was hard-going and we were all experiencing altitude sickness to varying degrees.
"I had fluid in my lungs and breathing was incredibly difficult – it was like choking on thin air.
"Gary had to turn back earlier on the final climb but by the time Craig got into difficulty he was too high and calling the air rescue was our only option."
Back at lower altitude, Craig was checked over by doctors.
"I felt fine after about an hour," he said. "I was gutted to come so close but I know it was the right decision."
Peter and two colleagues resumed the climb and reached the summit.
Peter said: "After all the hard work and training, it was a feeling of pure elation, despite how bad we all felt."
The expedition, Pie In The Sky, saw the team raise £40,000 for the Radiation Research Trust, a charity set up by former Samworth Brothers chief executive Brian Stein to fund research into the possible health risks of electromagnetic fields created by mobile phone masts and other technology.
The team had planned to celebrate their success with pork pies on the summit – but that plan also hit a hitch.
Peter said: "Unfortunately, the pies were in Craig's bag when he flew off.
"Mind you, they were running out rapidly and there was a risk we'd have finished them before the summit anyway."
Donations to the cause can still be made at:
www.justgiving.com/ sharon-broome1
www.radiationresearch.org
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