Care Flight 2

This rescue helicopter is being dispatched from Western Nevada 8 years late. Please help Care Flight 2 make it to the coast near Southerndown in South Wales, UK.

In 1999, a good friend, a paramedic, responded on a call for an injured fisherman on the high cliffs near Southerndown, in Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. The night was dark, and he was last in a line of rescuers cautiously winding their way along the edge of a sheer and treacherously brittle cliff. Without warning, the edge of the cliff silently gave way, and my friend plummeted down the vertical face, landing on the stony beach below. Unaware of his plight, his teammates continued onward to the original rescue. As he lay on the rocks with a head injury and multiple fractures, he gradually realized that the tide was coming in. Nearly immobile, he realized that in 30 minutes, high tide would reclaim the beach. His mobile radio was shattered by the fall, but, amazingly, his mobile phone still worked. He called 999 and groggily reported the accident. After the startled dispatcher relayed the details, his team hurried back and peered over the edge, helplessly realizing that the ocean would sweep him away long before they could rig and lower a stretcher down the cliff. The nearest helicopter was 40 minutes away; it would have arrived 10 minutes too late. The local lifeboat was dispatched, but the crew discovered that the sea was too rough for them to attempt a landing. In spite of the severe injuries, the broken bones, and the pounding surf, my friend swam in the pre-dawn darkness to the safety of the boat just as the tide rushed in. It was an amazing tale with a happy ending: a disastrous lack of time and rescue was overcome by astounding luck and Welsh fortitude.

Here's a photo of the cliffs at Southerndown.

The lucky paramedic now lives in Colorado, USA. After following the journey of this travel bug up to now, he has asked me if he could have it when its journey is finished. Once Care Flight 2 has completed the trip to Southerndown, he has offered to pay postage to return the travel bug to Colorado. Or, we could do it the GeoCachers' way and have it cache-hop its way back to Colorado!