Father saved in Kong adventure centre 'fighting for his life' after Mountain Rescue operation
A father-of-three rescued from an adventure centre in Keswick at the weekend is "fighting for his life" after he became trapped in an indoor caving experience.
The man, who is from the Lancaster area, was at Kong Adventure centre on Heads Road on Saturday for a birthday party for a family member.
He was inside the caving experience with four children when he slipped and became stuck.
Staff at the centre were unable to rescue the 49-year-old and emergency services were called just after 3pm.
The incident was attended by six crews from Cumbria Fire and Rescue, police, Keswick Mountain Rescue, Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit, Great North Air Ambulance and the Northwest Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team.
Climbing wall staff, assisted by visiting climbers, started dismantling sections of the climbing wall to aid access to tunnels hidden behind the climbing wall panels.
The man was rushed to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, where he remains in a critical condition.
A family member, who has been by his bedside since the incident, said: "It has been extremely traumatic. We are by his bedside 24 hours a day.
"He is a regular visitor to Kong Adventure and has explored those caves lots of times. He is not inexperienced. He slipped and became trapped. It was only a day out at a family activity centre and he's now in hospital, fighting for his life."
"He is still being treated at the Cumberland Infirmary and the fact that he is still alive is a testament to the emergency services and the hospital staff. We cannot stress enough what an amazing job the emergency services did in very difficult circumstances."
The family member said there were about 50 people involved in the rescue and praised firefighter Judy, who she said, never left his side during the whole rescue and Chrissy who helped liaise with family members.
12 Volunteers from Keswick Mountain Rescue were on site for over four hours.
A spokesperson for Keswick Mountain Rescue said: "A small group had decided on an indoor caving experience at a local climbing wall. Once in a narrow tunnel a male participant got stuck. The climbing wall staff tried their normal rescue procedure but this was unsuccessful so called 999 for help."
"With time passing there was growing concern for the trapped man’s health as he was in a static position in a confined space. With this in mind the Keswick MR team doctor called in the GNAAS Helimed resources.
"After some fantastic work by the climbing wall staff, climbers, COMRU, and Fire & Rescue (with their specialist cutting equipment), the man was released from his captivity. He was then transferred by land ambulance to Carlisle hospital for further checks and treatment."
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