Peak District climber relives moment he was hit by thrown boulder

Tommy Teale has been climbing for about 13 years but has never known rocks to be thrown at climbers

A climber who narrowly avoided serious injury when he was hit by a boulder thrown from a clifftop said it could have been much worse.

Tommy Teale, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, was about to start a climb in the Peak District when a large rock glanced off his helmet and hit his leg.

He was evacuated off the hill by a mountain rescue team.

Mr Teale said he was "lucky" it struck him where it did, otherwise the outcome would have been much worse.

It was initially thought Mr Teale suffered a broken leg but an x-ray revealed it was a badly bruised

He and two friends - Keir Wass and Chris Chambers - were about to attempt a route known as Brown's Crack on Great Tor, Bamford Edge.

Thankfully he was fully kitted up and ready to climb when the boulder hit his helmet and crashed into his thigh, causing bruising.

"If it had been a few inches one way, it would have shattered my kneecap - a few inches the other way it would have hit the back of my head and I would have suffered at least a concussion," he said.

"I'm kind of glad it hit me and nobody else. My friends hadn't put their helmets on yet so who knows what would have happened if if had hit them or if it had been a child playing.

"In 13 years of climbing, I've never seen or heard of anything like this before."

Mr Teale was rescued and taken down to an ambulance waiting on New Road

Within minutes of his injury, volunteers from the Edale Mountain Rescue Team were with Mr Teale, along with several climbers who were nearby.

He was given pain relief and strapped to a stretcher before he was carried off the hillside to an ambulance that transferred him to Chesterfield Royal Infirmary.

"It was fascinating to watch the mountain rescuers work," he said.

"They really are heroes among men. A huge thank you to them and all the climbers who stopped what they were doing to help."

Mr Teale said one of the climbers ran to the top to see who had thrown the rock, only to spot three men - thought to be in their late 20s - running off.

He was told there were no loose rocks near the cliff edge and that one would have had to be carried for several metres to get to where it was thrown.

Edale Mountain Rescue Team posted a photo of the rock that was thrown on its Facebook page

The events have not deterred Mr Teale from climbing and he is looking forward to getting back out on to the hills.

He added Derbyshire Police had been in regular contact and taken descriptions, but that without a witness knowing who they were it was unlikely anyone would be caught.

Officers said the three men are described as being in their early 20s, one with short black hair, and an all-white tracksuit, another was in an all-black tracksuit, while the third was wearing a North Face jacket and black tracksuit bottoms.

Anyone with any information has been asked to contact police.

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