Tree rescue for paraglider
A paraglider pilot had to be rescued from 70 feet up a tree after his canopy became entangled in the branches.
The man was left dangling dangerously above the wood when his flight from a popular paragliding area above Llangollen went wrong.
With a mission to winch the man into a helicopter aborted when it was feared the down draft from the craft would dislodge the canopy and sent him plummeting to the ground it was left to a local search and rescue volunteer to climb the enormous pine tree to help the man down to safety.
Emergency services were called out to the woodland below the paragliding site which overlooks the Dee Valley at lunchtime on Tuesday.
They called for help from the expert North East Wales Search and Rescue team.
Gerald Davison, Deputy Team Leader said one of the volunteers was a professional tree surgeon.
"One of our team members used his professional tree climbing skills to get above the casualty so a rope system could be built to lower him gently to the ground.
"Fortunately he hadn't suffered any injuries in the crash and was able to walk away to his car."
“The Holyhead coastguard helicopter also had a look at winching the casualty but there was considerable danger of displacing the paraglider canopy due to the downdraft, potentially causing the casualty to fall."
Mr Davison said all the Newsar members were volunteers who gave up their time to help people in both rural and urban situations. He said the organisation depended on donations to keep running and pay for equipment such as the ropes needed in the tree rescue.
"People can donate to our organisation on https://newsar.org.uk/fundraising/donation/."
