Builder rescued in attic drama (From Craven Herald)

Builder rescued in attic drama

12:40pm Saturday 16th June 2012 in News

A builder found himself at the centre of a major rescue operation after getting stuck in an attic.

Chris Davies called for an ambulance shortly before 9pm on Saturday after losing the feeling in his arms and legs.

He was carrying out renovations to a property in Colne Road, Barnoldswick.

He told paramedics he had fallen down the cellar steps at the property three weeks earlier and while decorating on Saturday night he had lost feeling in his limbs.

A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said: “When we arrived on scene we made a decision that the building structure was not safe enough for us to enter.

“We called on help from the ambulance service’s hazard area rescue team, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team.

“Together they were able to gain access and carefully strap the patient to a spinal board and out of the house into an ambulance.”

He was then taken to Airedale Hospital.

Neighbour Steve Peckham, 43, who witnessed the rescue, said: “All the emergency services were here for about an hour or so trying to get him out. They seemed to struggle.”

Paul Heywood, a volunteer with Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team, said: “When we arrived on the scene a man was stuck in the attic suffering from a loss of feeling in his arms and legs. He was explaining he had a fall three weeks earlier where he had banged his head but had thought nothing of it.

“In a joint operation with the fire brigade and ambulance service we helped manoeuvre the man onto a spinal board and out of the house.”