Irvine Times | News | Teen Airlifted to Safety

Saturday, 5th July, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 30th April, 2008 11:45

Teen Airlifted to Safety

By John-Martin Fulton

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A SHIVERING Irvine teen and members of his Boys’ Brigade were airlifted to safety when their hill-walking holiday turned near-disaster.

18-year-old Jonathan Aitken was rescued by helicopter when he began shuddering with cold and could not heat up - despite piling on extra layers of clothes. Another 15-year-old boy was also examined for the effects of cold.

However, their group leader says the boys’ temperatures only dropped because they refused to wear their proper gear - opting instead fot T-shirts.

Jonathan was part of a group of 29 Irvine youngsters climbing Ben Lawer in Perthshire as part of a holiday with the Seventh Irvine group.

But leader Eric Greig said that when they reached a height of around 900m Jonathan and some other lads decided to stay put.

“They decided they had gone far enough and waited in a sheltered area.

“But later on we noticed that Jonathan was shivering quite a lot.

“We gave him additional clothing and offered him chocolate but he didn’t seem to be getting any better.”

So the safety-conscious supervisors called the mountain rescue to the scene at around 2.30pm on Saturday.

Jonathan was flown to Perthshire Infirmary and a 15-year-old was checked-over by mountain rescue. But both were said to be fine and Jonathan was discharged the same day.

Their Seventh Irvine leader said: “He should have had more clothing on but sometimes guys of that age don’t want to be told what to do.

“I think he’s just a bit embarrassed.”

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