A CLIMBER who plunged almost 40 feet from one of Malham Cove's more serious climbing routes was saved by her rope and belay.

Professional sports-climber, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, who suffered a head injury from hitting the rock face as she fell on Saturday was stretchered off the limestone crag by the Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation who were attending nearby Malham show.

Once she was recovered from a ledge on the face of the cove she was treated by Yorkshire Air Ambulance paramedics.

A CRO spokesman said : "She was put into a vacuum mattress and onto a mountain rescue stretcher for lowering from ‘the cat walk’ by team members.

"She was carried downstream to the waiting air ambulance. This flew her down to Malham village where she was transferred to a road ambulance for the journey to hospital."

Mina, a climber from Sheffield, described her fall as "nasty" but grateful to come out of the ordeal with relatively minor injuries but shaken up.

"The picture makes it look like my injuries would be worse but at this stage the precautions were necessary," said Mina.

"Climbing is a wonderful sport but even in the 'safer' disciplines like sport climbing there are still risks and there are still unlucky moments where the 'usual' doesn't happen.

"I would like to send a massive thank you to all the people who helped me - the Cave Rescue Organisation, ambulance services, hospital staff at Airedale and, of course, my wonderful friends at the crag for coming to be with me."