Frozen Blencathra runner reunited with rescuers who saved his life

Tommy Price (fourth from left), his father Jeff (third from left) and Max Saleh (centre) were reunited with members of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team

A runner whose heart stopped when he got too cold on a mountainside has been reunited with his rescuers.

Tommy Price, 27, became unwell on the slopes of Blencathra in January while running with his friend Max Saleh, 26.

With their mobile phones drained of battery, Mr Saleh ran to raise help from the Keswick Mountain Rescue team.

Mr Price said he owed his life to the team and was now planning to run the London Marathon to raise funds for them.

Mr Price, from Denby Dale in West Yorkshire, and Mr Astley, from Astley in Wigan, were two miles away from completing a 30-mile leg of The Bob Graham Round route, having already run over Skiddaw and Great Calva when trouble arose.

As they descended Hall's Fell ridge, Mr Price started to say he could not continue and his legs went stiff, rendering him unable to stand.

Mr Saleh said the batteries in their mobile phones had drained due to the cold, so he had no choice but to leave his friend with a survival bivvy bag - a waterproof cover for a sleeping bag - and pack of energy gel on the ridge while he went to raise the alarm.

The runners were coming down Blencathra (file photo)

Mountain rescuers Donald Ferguson and Jonny Hume quickly found the bivvy, but Mr Price had disappeared.

Mr Hume told BBC Radio Cumbria: "We looked with our torches and maybe 100m above the bag we found the casualty.

"He was already very cold, very confused and obviously thought he was going the right way."

Mr Ferguson said when they got to him it was "very obvious very quickly" Mr Price had no heartbeat.

Team doctor John Ferris said getting so cold before his heart stopped probably helped save Mr Price's life as the freezing temperatures stopped his brain or other organs from becoming damaged.

"The fact he got that cold has actually protected for him," Dr Ferris said.

'Very emotional'

Mr Price was taken by air ambulance to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary where doctors slowly raised his body temperature - which had fallen to 18C - to the standard 37C before shocking his heart back into beating.

Mr Price said he was in a coma for more than four days and could not remember what had happened.

Dr Ferris said it had been a "very emotional case" and it was "fantastic to see [Mr Price] back with us".

He said: "I have to say, on the night, in the back of my mind I was really struggling to find a positive outcome for this."

Mr Price said he had thanked his friend for saving his life and owed his gratitude to the mountain rescue team.

"I wouldn't be here if they weren't around," adding: " I owe them my life."