First rescue for Applecross helicopter pad dedicated to teen

An emergency helicopter pad built in memory of a teenager who died from flu and sepsis has been used for the first time.

Bethany Walker, 18, from Applecross in Wester Ross, died in January 2018.

Community fund-raising and donations paid for the newly-completed landing site at the village's fire station.

Inverness Coastguard search and rescue helicopter landed at the pad on Tuesday during the rescue of woman who had been injured in a fall.

A helicopter was involved in the effort to save Bethany's life.

She was flown to hospital in Inverness in 34 minutes after she became severely ill. The journey by road could have taken two hours.

The air ambulance that flew Bethany to Raigmore Hospital had to land in a pub car park, which was fortunately empty at the time but would normally have been full of cars.

The new helipad is available to the Scottish Ambulance Service and Coastguard rescue helicopters.

Bethany's mum Heather Teale set up a community fund which raised £15,000, and included a donation from actor Hugh Grant who offered his help after hearing about Bethany's story.

The final £50,000 needed was donated by Robert Bertram from the Help Appeal, a charity dedicated to funding helicopter emergency landing pads.

The money raised covered the £60,000 cost of constructing the pad with £5,000 left over to help pay for maintenance costs.

Tuesday's rescue on a shoreline near Applecross also involved RNLI Kyle, a local coastguard team and Scottish Ambulance Service.

The woman had fallen on rocks and suffered a suspected broken hip.

A Kyle lifeboat spokesman said "The casualty was transported to the new helicopter landing pad by ambulance before being airlifted to hospital by the UK Coastguard helicopter from Inverness.

"This is the first time that the new community funded landing pad in Applecross has been used, and it was great to see everything come together and work so smoothly."

Applecross on the west Highland coast is 80 miles (129km) from Inverness and the road journey takes two hours.

The shortest route involves negotiating the Bealach na Ba, a mountain pass that rises to about 626m (2,053ft).

The alternative involves a 25-mile (40km) coastal road, and journey times can be longer in the summer due to tourist traffic or in winter when the weather is poor.