The son of a hill walker who plummeted 300ft down a Highland mountain has launched a public appeal to help find the men who “saved his life”.
Mark Stuart’s father, believed to be called Ian, was climbing Sgurr Alasdair, the highest peak on Skye, on Friday when he fell hundreds of feet – suffering severe cuts and bruising to his head, face and legs.
As members of the Skye Mountain Rescue team scrambled up the 3,000ft mountain to his aid, two Americans and a Royal Marine – who were in the area at the time – remained by Mr Stuart’s side following the terrifying ordeal “comforting him” and “keeping his spirits up”, before he was airlifted to hospital for further medical treatment.
In the hours following the rescue, Mr Stuart’s son Mark launched an online appeal to help trace the three men to thank them for bringing his “old man” home safe.
The family have so far tracked down a Royal Marine of the 45 Commandos, known as Simon, to thank him for his generosity.
In a heartfelt post, Mr Stuart said the family were desperate to find the men responsible for ‘saving his life’.
He wrote: “On Friday past my dad was climbing Sgurr Alasdair n Skye and fell around 2/300ft. Miraculously he escaped with just severe bruising and cuts – 99 times out of 100 if he did that again he would be dead which really puts it into perspective.
“If it wasn’t for these three gentlemen my old man would be lying at the bottom of a hill dead so we would absolutely love if somehow we could get in contact with them.”
The family are still eager to trace two American walkers’ names Eric and Justin to praise them for their help.
The pair, originally from Chicago, are believed to be on a tour across Europe and with expeditions in Glencoe and Oban on the cards following their visit to Skye.
Mr Stuart added: “They comforted him, kept his spirits up, managed to get mountain rescue to him and get him airlifted to hospital. Not one of them took any form of credit but personally, I think they deserve all the praise in the world.
“You saved his life.”
