Whilst providing Standby Rescue Cover today for the Prestwich Challenge Sunday Event, at 12.40hrs, and unconnected completely with the event, Event Organiser Glenn Martin was made aware by one of his marshal teams, of an incident involving a mountain biker near to the Prestwich Challenge route.

Glenn immediately contacted our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE, at our Control Point, and the crew of our Land Rover Defender Mountain Rescue ambulance, call sign Bolton Mobile 1, who were nearby, were tasked with providing immediate assistance.

Arriving at the casualty site at 12.55hrs, they found a 43 year old female mountain biker (From Little Lever, Bolton) with suspected head, back and elbow injuries.

She had been riding in the company of her partner and her brother, both of whom rendered immediate care.

She was treated by the four team members present, Ged Clarke, Dave Cook, Nigel Booth and John Dickinson, being treated with pain killing gas and drugs, and splinted with neck collar, head blocks, placed on a long board and then on to a SAR Alpine Lite Mountain Rescue Stretcher.

She was then placed in to the rear of the Land Rover, which departed the incident site within Prestwich Forest Park at 13.25hrs.

At 13.40hrs she was transferred to an NWAS Emergency Ambulance at Sedgeley Park RUFC (our standby rescue cover RVP and Prestwich Challenge Event Start and Finish) for further evaluation and treatment, which departed at 14.00hrs for North Manchester Hospital.

Team Trainee member Steve James then travelled to North Manchester Hospital to retrieve all our equipment items, where it was established the woman had sustained a C Spine Injury.

Four team members were directly involved in this incident on scene, with others providing traffic flow assistance / marshalling within the narrow roads and tracks of Prestwich Forest Park, and co-ordinating duties with NWAS (Greater Manchester Area) Parkway EOC.

The NWAS Emergency Ambulance and Paramedic / EMT crew came from Heywood Ambulance Station.