• Freedom at last!

  • Chris dragging me out of the entrance

Rescued from Daren Cilau

I got new wellies for this caving trip; maybe that was the problem. Whatever the reason, on the way back to the Daren entrance crawl just after coming through the boulder choke, I managed to slip on a rock and fall most of the way down a rocky slope, ending with a heavy blow to my shoulder.

After a couple of minutes, I attempted to continue, but it was obvious that arm was not going to be very useful, and that in particular I wasn’t going to be able to get through the entrance crawl itself. After a brief discussion and inspection of the injured area, we decided to send Rachel through the crawl to call out the cave rescue.

[Rachel hurried out as rapidly as possible, getting many bruises along the way. She slowed down through the vice, but still managed to get her knee jammed in the floor slot for about 5 minutes until it came free. Once out, Rachel ran (with wellies full of water no less) down the hill and found a passer-by with mobile phone and from there she called the police and then the cave rescue. It was 1815 ish]

Left to my own devices, I sat around for a bit, but started to get cold, so had to wander around. I rigged up an improvised sling with my belt and waited for the cavalry to arrive. I knew it was going to be a long wait.

[Within 20 minutes the police and ambulance arrived. The latter had never attended a cave rescue before, if they had, they wouldn’t have bothered with the flashing blue lights! Over the next hour or so, cave rescue members turned up, were fed, watered and assembled into groups focusing on communications (comms), first response, support, etc… First to go into the cave were the comms., followed shortly by the first responders, which included a medic and a couple of supporting people. After getting warm, Rachel moved to the entrance of the cave to hear the comms updates. She sat there for the next 6 hours!]

Eventually, after wearing a furrow in the floor by walking back and forth, and running out of songs to sing, the first of the cave rescue – Adrian – arrived about 2130. He got communications established with the surface and then we waited for the first aid. They arrived a few minutes later and after examining my shoulder, dosed me up with painkillers. We had to wait about 20 minutes for them to take effect, but the time was quickly taken up with discussing what the best way to get me out of the cave was, and how to truss me up to do it. Eventually we opted for a chest- and sit-harness, my sling to support my arm where possible and to go out through the entrance crawl – the alternative of going all the way around to Ogof Cnwc was too horrible to contemplate – I’d still be in the cave now if we’d gone that way!

At 2210 we set off into the crawl. The first obstacle was the calcite squeezes, which had me flat on my stomach. Fortunately the floor was smooth, so with a bit of pulling and pushing they managed to drag me through. The trickiest parts were where I had to go up above the floor. Normally you do a series of one-handed press-ups and jam your body into the passage, so that you can move your hand along. With my shoulder the way it was, I couldn’t jam my body so I needed supporting each time I moved forwards. Adrian did a brilliant job of this in the first section.

After what felt like forever, crawling and being pushed and pulled down the passage, we met the next group coming in to relieve the first responders. They were all fantastic, particularly Lisa the medic, and headed out to get warm and dry and recover. The second group fed me hot soup, cooled with Ribena, before we continued the struggle. The passage continued interminably and was so tight and narrow that the people in front and behind could give me little help in many places. Eventually after a few more stops and communications with the surface, we reached the last major obstacle – The Vice! By this stage, it had been 4 hours since the rescuers arrived, so Amy gave me another dose of painkillers.

The Vice is a section where you have to go up over a narrow slot in the floor, so we did a bit of planning before getting me into there. John behind me attached a rope so that he could try and lift me a little and Chris in front turned around to face me. They also tried to fill the slot with tackle bags, although that wasn’t entirely successful. A great deal of huffing and puffing commenced and I slowly inched over the slot. Things were going pretty well thanks to everyone’s help until Chris got himself jammed. There was no way I could move to help him so he had to squeeze underneath me temporarily until he could free himself. He’s probably the only person ever to go through the entrance crawl in reverse!

Chris dragging me out of the entrance

I finally exited the cave at 0230. I figure 4 hours for the entrance crawl with only one arm was a pretty good effort. Both the parties who helped me in the cave were absolutely brilliant and the organisation of the whole affair was excellent. I’d like to say a huge thanks to the South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Organisation. Unlike Rachel’s practice rescue, this time it was for real and all ~24 people who turned out for the rescue were incredibly professional.

Freedom at last!

The rest is pretty dull: a trip in an ambulance to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny; x-rays revealing that I’d fractured my humerus, more drugs and then sent home to catch a bit of sleep. By the time we got back to Whitewalls any trace of the rescue had vanished.

Wounded, but walking.

Series - Daren Rescue

  1. A trip to the Hard Rock Cafe
  2. Rescued from Daren Cilau

15 thoughts on “Rescued from Daren Cilau”

  1. That’s bad luck! Or good?! Just a matter of how you look at it. Anyway, good that you were not hurt any worse than this and as I can see your other hand is still quite good enough for typing this long but very exciting (sorry to say) post! 😉
    So :star: :star: :star: for the post but 🙁 🙁 🙁 for the injury! Hope it will be a fast recovery!

  2. OMG! Thank goodness you’re ok… and you even manage a smile (grimace?) for the camera at the end.

    Well done to all the cave rescuers :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: They’ll be able to use that story at parties for years to come.

    And well done for Rachel for keeping a cool head, getting out of the vice, and of course, remembering that once everyone’s safe then the next priority is all about the pictures and the blog. 🙂

  3. Yikes! 😯

    Well, I guess all’s well that ends well, but it must have been ultra worrying for you both! Good job keeping cools heads. 😉

    Perhaps there’s a massive cake making campaign under way now to send the Welsh CRO a yummy thank-you? :mrgreen:

  4. Well done to the lot of you. One for keeping a cool head getting out of the cave to get help, one for putting up with a painful and lonely few hours and 24 people for giving up their time and comfort to put all their expertise into practise. See you soon.

  5. Hi Richard,
    good to hear you still sounding so jolly!and thankyou for the compliments on the rescue team members,
    just wondered if you had any more info on your shoulder injury?
    I’m banking on a greater tuberosity fracture of your humerus, and am hoping it won’t need fixing!
    Don’t forget you need a local fracture clinic appointment for a check XR within the first 10 days post fracture!
    cheers
    Lisa

    1. Hi Lisa,
      thanks again for everything. You were great. I’ve now been to fracture clinics at Nevill Hall and Good Hope in Sutton Coldfield. The surgeon at Nevill Hall said a greater tuberosity fracture, was concerned about how much displacement and suggested a CAT scan, which we decided to do closer to home. The surgeon here decided there was a fracture of the surgical neck as well, didn’t opt for the scan and has arranged followup XR in ten days to see if there’s any change in the displacement. He says around 4 weeks in the sling plus 4-6 physio. Does that seem plausible?

  6. I can’t imagine how stressed Rachel must have been when her knee got stuck for FIVE MINUTES – in that situation: aaaargh. So glad to hear you are both ok though. (And great blog :star: :star: :star: .)

    However one question: soup mixed with Ribena????????? Not very :yum: I imagine.

  7. 😉 Really glad you’re not too broken, and still smiling! Incredibly glad you managed to get out the crawl, the alternative route didn’t bear thinking about.. I think you have also set a record for the speediest exit with one arm!

    1. Hi Amy,
      thanks again for all your help, and for giving up your Sunday evening/Monday morning. I couldn’t have got out without everyone’s help and care.

      I don’t think it counts as a record if nobody else has done it! Hopefully it’ll stay that way too.

  8. Yes it all sounds plausible, am surprised at the neck fracture, these are usually incredibly painful!!
    The xr at 4 weeks is to check for callus, ie healing, and to then start physio!
    This is likely to be a fairly long haul back to full fitness, but have no doubt you’ll do it!!
    All the best for a quick recovery, hope to see you again under better circs!!
    Cheers
    Lisa
    Ps
    Fundraising week end for rescue; bank holiday, end of august!
    X

    1. Hi Lisa,
      thanks very much. That’s very helpful. We’re going to try to make it to the bank holiday fundraising, so we might see you there. Although if I’m going I want a trip to the Columns ❗ 😉

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