Caver rescued in eight-hour operation after fall

A caver late to return from an expedition underground in the Peak District had to be rescued in an eight-and-a-half hour operation.

Two people exploring the 'Jackpot' cave at Perryfoot near Castleton on Friday ran into difficulty after one of them suffered a fall deep within the system.

Emergency services and more than 35 volunteers from the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation (DCRO) were called at about 17:00 BST as the pair's return was overdue.

Both were safely returned to the surface by the volunteer rescue team, some of whom had travelled more than 100 miles (160km) to help.

A DCRO report into the incident said one caver, a man in his 60s, had suffered injuries in a short fall of two to three metres near the bottom of the cave.

He had sustained severe bruising and suspected broken ribs.

The second caver, a 19-year-old woman, was cold "but in good spirits".

DCRO said due to her limited caving experience, she had correctly waited for rescue rather than attempted to exit on her own.

The younger caver was returned to the surface first, before DCRO medics treated the injured person inside Jackpot.

A "slow evacuation" was then carried out, with the casualty taken back to the road by 4x4 and passed into the care of East Midlands Ambulance Service at about 01:30 on Saturday.

DCRO spokesperson Anthony Matthews said: "The party were really well equipped with an emergency shelter, spare food and first aid kit.

"They had left a very informative description of their planned trip - and the equipment they had - with a person on the surface who called the police when they did not check in at the pre-arranged time.

"Some of our volunteers travelled from as far away as South Wales to attend and once the kit had been packed away and the vehicles driven back to base, the last team member arrived home at 04:30 on Saturday morning."

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