Paraglider airlifted to trauma unit after Tomatin crash
A paraglider is reported to be recovering after a serious crash on Saturday near Tomatin.
Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team volunteers – helping a fallen climber off Aladdin's Mirror in the corries the same afternoon – reported news of a call out to the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance to the Coignafern area of Strathdearn, just outside Tomatin.
"That was down to Helimed," said CMRT member Willie Anderson. "Our casualty had a broken leg and we splinted him and lowered him to the coire floor on a stretcher.
"The weather was coming and going. The helicopter was staying in the vicinity for us – there were 20 team members out after the call, from 11am until 5pm – and waiting for a weather window.
"By 3pm he was winched into the aircraft and flown to Raigmore.
"But as we were coming off the hill a paraglider crashed at Coignafern. We understand he sustained multiple injuries. Helimed dealt with this but we stayed on standby."
A Police spokesperson told the Strathy: “We were made aware of a man having crashed while speed flying near Tomatin around 3pm.
“The man was located and taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment.”
That was confirmed by a spokesperson for SACC, who told the Strathy: "We deployed our ambulance from our Aberdeen base with a doctor-led team.
"They attended the incident on a fairly inaccessible hillside near Tomatin and flew a male paraglider – of whom we have no details – to the Major Trauma Centre at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary."
The SACC, like the Cairngorms Mountain Rescue Team, is available for call-out 24/7 and relies on public donations to maintain its service.
