Teenage climber in quarry plunge drama (From The Bolton News)

Teenage climber in quarry plunge drama

A ROCK climber is being treated in hospital after injuring his spine when he plunged 20 feet down a quarry face.

Iain Bisset, aged 19, was trying to scale a side of Ousel Nest Quarry, near Jumbles Reservoir on Sunday afternoon, when he slipped and the metal climbing aids he had jammed into crevices gave way.

His father, Dr David Bisset, a pathologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital, was standing at the bottom of the quarry holding Iains rope when his son fell.

After quickly checking Iain over and ensuring that he remained still, he ran for help.

He scrambled up the quarry to use the phone at a house in nearby Hillside Avenue, before racing back to be with his son.

Paramedics and Bolton Mountain Rescue Team were quickly on the scene and carried Iain to a waiting ambulance.

He was rushed to the Royal Bolton Hospital where he is being treated for a compression fracture of a vertebrae.

Doctors are confident Iain, a law student at Sheffield University, will make a full recovery.

And far from being put off climbing he is already deciding which rock face to tackle next.

"He is already plotting what climb he is going to do," said Dr Bisset.

Iain, of Turton Bottoms, is passionate about climbing and has trained with some of the best experts in the country after taking up the sport at the age of 14.

He chose to study at Sheffield University deliberately because of the number of good climbs in the area and he has climbed all over Europe and Great Britain.

Recently he had planned to tackle two unclimbed sections of Ousel Nest quarry.

One he successfully completed two weeks ago and the other he was climbing when the accident happened.

It is thought a piece of rock broke off and, although the metalwork fail to stop him falling, Dr Bisset believes it slowed him enough to prevent more serious injury

"He is an extremely talented climber. When you are 19 you never believe anything bad is going to happen to you," said Dr Bisset, who praised the professionalism of his rescuers.

"They were superbly efficient," he said.