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Brecon Beacons: Derbyshire cave rescuer describes challenge of 3D maze

SMWCRT Pictures from inside the cave during the rescueSMWCRT
Derbyshire rescuers were among the team, which had to move the casualty down sheer drops and over waterfalls

A cave rescuer has described his team's role in rescuing a man stuck in a Welsh cave for 53 hours.

The casualty suffered a fall in the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system near Penwyllt, Powys, on Saturday.

More than 250 people were involved in the rescue, which was the longest ever undertaken in Wales.

Allan Berry, chair of Derbyshire Cave Rescue, said it took "a lot of effort" to get the man, strapped to a stretcher, out of what was a "3D maze".

The man was a fit and experienced caver but fell 8m (26ft) so a companion raised the alarm.

SMWCRT Cave rescueSMWCRT
At least eight rescue teams from across the UK took part in the operation

Mr Berry said a team of 18 were scrambled from Derbyshire on Sunday, when the need for manpower became clear.

The casualty was stuck one to two kilometres (0.6 to 1.2 miles) into a 70km (43.5-mile) cave system.

Mr Berry said: "We brought the stretcher out of the cave, over a long period of time, swapping with other teams.

"You have to give each other a rest, so you need lots of teams to swap over because it is a lot of effort bringing the stretcher out."

While the straight line distance may not sound much, Mr Berry said, he emphasised the difficulty of the terrain.

PA Media Rescue teams approach cave entrancePA Media
Foggy conditions meant the air ambulance could not land

"It's a 3D maze," he said.

"That's through squeezes, up waterfalls, sometimes you have to bring the stretcher up vertically using ropes up what we call pitches so it takes a long time to move a stretcher a short distance.

"Sometimes you are lying down and letting the stretcher slide over you or using your knees to let the stretcher go across.

"It can be very, very difficult because of the constricted passage size.

"If you image on a mountainside you can get, say, eight people around a stretcher, sometimes in a very narrow passage you might just get one at the front and one at the back."

The man was brought out with multiple injuries but in good spirits and taken to hospital.

Derbyshire Cave Rescue receives no government funding but Mr Berry said he and his team "genuinely enjoy it" and "if the same happened to me, I'd like to think they would come and get me".

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