Please donate to sponsor my completion of the Commando Speed March on 11 March 23. All money will go to the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team who kept me alive when I suffered a very serious climbing accident in June 22. If you would like to read the full story of the rescue and my fortunate recovery it is below, otherwise thank you ever so much for your donation.

The Mountain Rescue - June 22

I was climbing in Glen Clova in the Scottish Cairngorms. My climbing partner, Josh, was out of sight belaying 35m below me. When it was clear something was wrong he was forced to secure the ropes at the base of the cliff and then free solo (unprotected) up to where I was to assess the situation. I had clearly fallen about 10m, turned upside down whilst falling, and then hit the rock with the back of my head. I was bleeding out of my ear and was unconscious. He managed to turn me the right way up, and then climbed back down to the bottom of the cliff before lowering me down. He then did some checks of the rest of my body and tried to carry/drag me down to the roadside. This was only possible for a small distance as the ground was so steep (60 degrees) and to take me to the bottom he would have had to drag me down a scree slope. He got me as far as he could and then secured me halfway down the hill. There was no phone signal and he could not find my car keys so the only other option was to run for help.

Josh ran along the glen and eventually came across a house with a telephone on view. After knocking on the door several times, and about to kick the door in, the door was answered and he was able to call the emergency services. This triggered the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team (TMRT), paramedics, and the Scottish Ambulance Service Special Operations Response Team (SORT) into action. Meanwhile, Josh managed to persuade a woman in a nearby car park to give him a lift back to the cliff, then they both scrambled up to where I was and lay down next to me to keep me warm. When the Team Leader of the TMRT, Paul, arrived at the base of the crag he helped the SORT paramedics carry their gear up the very steep slope to our location. The regular paramedics could not get up to us. Paul then took control and called for a helicopter evacuation. Meanwhile his remaining Tayside Mountain Rescue Team, who were en route to us, had suffered a separate car crash in the now very wet conditions, rolling their 4x4. Fortunately no one was severely injured, but it meant that it was down to the SORT, Paul, and Josh to stabilise me with their kit and medicine before the helicopter arrived.

The inbound Coast Guard helicopter team had to make a dynamic risk assessment regarding the chances of starting an electrical storm due to the conditions in the glen, but thankfully they took the risk and lowered their winchman and a stretcher down to us. Whilst the helicopter hovered beyond the glen, the hillside team then battled to get me into the stretcher, not an easy feat given the slope and the uncertainty over which of my bones were broken. The helicopter then returned and the winchman, and I in my stretcher, were lifted up into the helicopter. 12 minutes later I was at Aberdeen hospital, assessed in Intensive Care, and then induced into a coma. I woke 12 days later with Shuna, my wife, bedside. 

I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, severely damaged the seventh and eighth cranial nerves (facial muscles and auditory signals respectively), and lost 17kg of weight in the 12 day coma. I could not walk properly, could not do 100 minus 7, could not spell 'world' backwards, and was totally deaf in my right ear - but I was alive, had a chance to rebuild, and most importantly see my family again and watch my children grow up.

What is clear is that without the heroics of those who looked after me immediately after the accident I would be dead. For that reason I am running the Commando Speed March as the culmination of my physical recovery training and to raise money for the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team. It will help them to buy kit to enable them to communicate, move around mountains and rivers, and save lives.

The Commando Speed March is on 11th of March 2023. It is an 11km run from Spean Bridge to Achnacarry, in military kit, carrying 16.5kg, and hopefully I will complete it in under an hour. I am training for and running it with two military friends Dougie and Andy who have helped me recover and prepare. 

Please help by donating, any small amount will help. All money raised will go directly to the Tayside Mountain Rescue Association.

Thank you

Joe