Incident report

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team was called in the late afternoon to The Sloth area of The Roaches in Staffordshire following the report of a climber having injured his shoulder.  To complicate the incident, the climber was now on a belay ledge some 20 metres from the ground.
The climber, a man from Macclesfield, had been solo-climbing on Technical Slab when reaching for a hand-hold caused a suspected dislocation of his shoulder.  Keeping cool and calm in a very precarious position and despite great pain, the climber managed to reverse a few moves and traverse on to the belay ledge of Pedestal Route.  Another climber (believed to be a member of Buxton Mountaineering  Club) witnessed the accident and climbed to the narrow ledge to offer support whilst further assistance was being called.

On arrival, rescue team members set up belays above The Sloth and a lowered a rescuer to the ledge.  Following the administration of basic first-aid and appropriate pain-relieving drugs, the casualty was assisted into a special rescue harness and lowered to the ground.  The man was then placed on a rescue stretcher and carried to the road where a West Midlands ambulance was waiting to transfer him to a Macclesfield hospital.

The rescue team extend its thanks to all the climbers who offered assistance.