On the first anniversary of my friend David’s devastating fall in the Strathfarrar mountains, we returned together to the place of the accident. What David witnessed was both shocking and sobering.
A long year of recovery
After David’s fall last October close to the summit of the Munro Sgurr na Fearstaig, the prognosis wasn’t good.
He was fortunate to survive and to be found by a runner, who heard his cries for help as he lay on a steep slope with multiple bone breaks. The rescue was long and complicated and David spent time in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, before being moved to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, closer to his home in East Dunbartonshire.
But medics were unsure if David would be able to walk, run and cycle again and there were major doubts about his return to his much-loved hobby of Munro bagging.
Read more about the mountain accident.
Remarkably, David has achieved a great deal in just a year. He has been fortunate to have received superb NHS medical care, including several difficult operations, expert physiotherapy and advice from leading medics.
He has been brilliantly supported by his wife Alicia, his daughters Sian and Emma and a host of good friends.
David himself has been determined to make the best of his often slow and painful recovery. His mental fortitude has been impressive.
He would also be the first to say that he has been lucky. The result of the fall could have been far worse and so David has tried to make the best of the physical and mental difficulties he has faced. The main issue has been a badly damaged knee.
The wins have been amazing. Almost every time I spoke to David, or I saw a post on social media, he had taken a step forwards. Sometimes, these steps seemed agonisingly tiny, especially for someone who was previously a high-achieving amateur athlete.
At other times, I couldn’t believe what he had accomplished, such as when he first got back on his bike, then when he rode 20 miles, then a 10-mile walk, then a 5k run on a treadmill.
Amazingly, in April he made it to the summit of my last Munro, Beinn na Lap. He told me afterwards that he had set himself this goal as motivation, although he never believed he would make it. We were all thrilled when he did.
Sometimes these steps forwards have resulted in further steps backwards. Only this week, David told me that he had started running on the treadmill again because a few months before it became too painful. But the fact that he wanted to try again – he’s started a couch to 5k programme – is testament to his conviction to make the fullest recovery possible.
1st anniversary: The big ride and hike
To mark the year post-accident, David decided to test his return to fitness so far with what he was calling his “redemption adventure”.
He set himself the challenge to cycle from Glasgow to our home near Inverness. It took him only two days to ride the 190 miles!
He also asked me if I would accompany him to the Munro where he fell. He was ready to return, he thought.
While David can ride his bike mostly pain-free, as long as he takes things fairly slowly, walking on uneven terrain and on steep inclines are still challenging. However, he has maintained his cardiovascular fitness and his strength is returning.
Sgurr na Fearstaig is the the furthest west of four Munros in the Strathfarrar range. We took advantage of being able to drive along the glen and started the walk uphill on a well-laid track.
Our chat frequently turned to the day of the accident, the year of recovery and David’s concerns about what he would see at the scene of the accident, as well as his worries about walking back downhill (the descending is harder for him, than the ascending).
Fortunately, there were some of good distractions, too, including spectacular autumnal views and general up-beat chat about our lives, families and plans for 2023.
The higher we climbed, the more we chatted about the accident itself. David knew exactly where he had fallen because his sports watch had recorded it. He also knew he had crossed a path as he fell.
His memory was that he had walked away from the summit, aiming for the ridge line further west. He lost his footing and was unable to steady himself. This saw him slipping further and rolling over, out of control. He was sure he had fallen down a steep, grassy slope.
He also recalled coming to a stop against a large rock, which he had used to pop himself against to prevent a further fall.
As we homed in on the line of his fall, David was able to identify the likely place where he came to a stop. He could see the rock that he had lain against.
He could also see the slope further down, with a huge cluster of rocks, that he would have rolled into if he had not stopped where he did.
But most shocking was the slope above that he had slipped and fallen down. Instead of being grassy, it was rocky and craggy. It seemed miraculous that David had survived such a fall and that he hadn’t suffered a head injury.
After spending some time looking up and down the slope, we completed the walk to the Munro summit. David wanted to assess the route he had taken from the summit.
After such an accident, it’s normal to question what we might have done differently and whether we could have changed the course of events.
The decisions we make in the mountains
This made me think. Every walker and runner in the hills and mountains makes frequent decisions based on experience, map reading skills, the weather and what we can see in front of us. Most of the time, even when we make a small error, we are fortunate to be able to retrace our steps, or adjust a decision safely.
Even when sticking to a well-trodden path, I have slipped but been lucky to save my fall. Since David’s accident, I have been far more aware of how each step has the potential to be unsteady. I am a lot more cautious on steep slopes, but even with care and attention, accidents happen.
It’s likely David will question his chosen route from the summit for the rest of his life. We have all made route choices that in retrospect could have been better.
However, it’s also likely his fall was simply bad luck. We have all slipped and saved ourselves from falling further. On this occasion, David wasn’t lucky.
Fortunately, while David did have a potentially deathly accident, he survived and he is still making progress towards greater fitness and physical capabilities.
The positives and the negatives
As we walked back downhill, David tried to focus on the positives. He said: “I am lucky to be able to ride my bike again. I have been able to walk another Munro today and the walk downhill is not as difficult or painful as I feared.
“I am running on the treadmill again and it feels better than it did two months ago. I am still making progress.
“Seeing where I fell was a shock and it was very sobering, but it just shows me even more clearly how fortunate I was to survive.”
David and Alicia have so far raised more than £6000 for Dundonnell MRT. You can still donate.