This was the dramatic moment when an injured walker from the York area was winched from an icy mountainside by an RAF helicopter.

York climber David Boston lies vertically on a stretcher as it is winched on board an RAF rescue helicopter. Mr Boston suffered serious head injuries when he fell 100ft from a ridge in the Lake District and was flown to Newcastle General Hospital where he was being treated today

David Boston, 30, from Escrick, suffered serious head injuries when he fell about 100 feet from a ridge in the Lake District known as Sharp Edge.

It is understood another walker alerted the emergency services by mobile phone, and the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was immediately called in.

Team leader Dave Freeborn told the Evening Press today how the team and the helicopter happened to be taking part in a training exercise in the area at the time.

The team was flown up to the ridge within two or three minutes, and then winched down to a gully where Mr Boston was lying in a semi-conscious state suffering from head injuries, possibly a fractured skull.

Steps were taken to keep the walker's airway open and he was then strapped in a special stretcher before being winched into the helicopter.

The team members, who included a doctor, were also winched back in, and they worked on Mr Boston all the way to Newcastle General Hospital to keep his condition stable until he could be treated by specialists.

Mr Freeborn said conditions on the mountainside were snowy and icy at the time of the accident.

The hospital was unable to comment today on Mr Boston's condition, and the Evening Press has been unable to contact relatives in the York area.

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