A man who was rescued from the Scottish mountain ridge, the Aonach Eagach, recently has issued a warning to other people to be aware of the dangers of heat stroke.
Cameron Mackie, 20, of Glasgow, required assistance from the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, as he progressed along the famous ridge.
His symptoms included nausea, sickness, a sore head and emotional upset.
A ridge rescue
Cameron was walking with three friends, who all have good experience in the mountains. They were well prepared for the outing.
He said: “It was a really nice day when we set out. We did the first summit with no problem at all and then moved on to the harder scrambling section, again with no issues.
“However, around halfway through the ridge, I started to feel a little sick. At first, I thought it was due to the banana I had just wolfed down.
“Around 10 minutes later I felt sick and I sat down unable to take another step. I burst into tears for no apparent reason. My emotions were totally out of control.”
Because Cameron has suffered heat stroke before, he was aware of the symptoms.
He said: “I told my friends why I might be feeling ill and we stopped for a while to see if it would pass. I was conscious that if it didn’t, we would be in a sticky situation.”
But after another 10 minutes, Cameron’s condition started to deteriorate. By now he was being sick and suffering with an extremely sore head.
Cameron said: “It then became obvious we would have to call the mountain rescue. A team arrived on foot within a few hours and they were really good with all of us. They walked me off on one of their escape routes to a quad bike that took me to the road.
“In total, we were on the hill for 12 hours from start to finish. I can’t thank the MRT enough for what they do for people in trouble in the mountains.”
Heat stroke alert
Heat stroke symptoms include:
- Headache.
- Dizziness and confusion.
- Loss of appetite and feeling sick.
- Excessive sweating and pale, clammy skin.
- Cramps in the arms, legs and stomach.
- Fast breathing or pulse.
- Temperature of 38C or above.
- Being very thirsty.
Cameron wants to highlight heat stroke because he believes that people are not aware of the symptoms. He said: “A lot of people are fairly unaware of the consequences of heat stroke and how easily it can happen to any of us.
“On this occasion, I had been outside painting all day the day before and while I thought I had drunk enough fluid, I clearly hadn’t.
“Having had it before, unfortunately I am a lot more susceptible to getting it again.
“Both times I have had a heat stroke it has been delayed onset and has happened the day after.”
Days after the incident, Cameron was still feeling weak and suffering with a sore head.
Find out more about the symptoms of heat stroke.