A Moray teenager who was plucked to safety after surviving 30 hours on the north-east coast following a horrific cliff-fall onto rocks has raised more than £3,000 to thank the rescuers who lifted him to safety.
Zander Craib suffered life-threatening injuries in September when he fell from cliffs near Hopeman.
The 19-year-old endured two nights on the beach before being found by a family friend amid a 300-strong community search effort.
Apprentice mechanic Mr Craib, from Hopeman, has now visited Findhorn-based independent lifeboat Miro (Moray Inshore Rescue Organisation) who responded to the emergency call and helped airlift him to hospital to thank volunteers personally.
Massive community search
It is believed Mr Craib was walking to Lossiemouth when he fell from cliffs in the early hours of September 4.
A massive community search effort was coordinated by the Hopeman community after concerns grew about him in the afternoon.
It was eventually a family friend who spotted him the following day after taking to the water on a paddleboard to get a different viewpoint.
Mr Craib was found between rocks, which made him difficult to see, after crawling to safety from rising tides. It is believed he was moments from death at the time as water was rising around him again.
Once the alarm was raised he had been discovered, Miro rescuers were scrambled to the scene to provide first aid.
A Coastguard helicopter was then requested and the lucky teen needed eight hours of open-heart surgery – only coming off life support the next day.
However, the keen bowler has now made a full recovery and has just completed his first week back at work full-time after his ordeal.
‘You don’t realise how much they do until you need them’
While recovering from his ordeal Kelsie Rae, a friend of the teen, and others decided to raise money to thank the rescuers who came to his aid.
A huge fundraising raffle was organised with about 30 prizes pledged by locals.
Donations included work from Mr Craib’s employer Sheriffmill, personal training sessions, massage treatments with one local gardener pledging 48 hours of labour to a recipient.
The fundraising effort raised £3,070 with a further £500 pledged by the charity arm of the BP Andrew oilfield, where Mr Craib’s father works for offshore firm Sparrows.
Mr Craib explained he had no memory about his experience on the beach near Hopeman or being helped by Miro – but said he and his friends were eager to support them.
The fundraising effort raised £3,070 for Miro with a further £500 being donated to the Hopeman Memorial Hall, where the massive community search effort was coordinated from.
Mr Caib said: “It’s good to help them (Miro), because you never realise how much work they do until you’re in the situation.
“They need help to do the work they do so. You don’t realise how important it is until you are in that situation yourself.
“I can’t remember anything they did, but I was told about it afterwards, so I wanted to thank them.”
Miro operations manager, Peter Mackenzie, said: “On behalf of Miro, I would like to say a huge thank you to Zander for the very generous donation.
“Our team has responded to 28 emergency call outs so far this year and I think we would all agree that Zander’s rescue and subsequent recovery from his injuries will be remembered as one of our great success stories.
“We are delighted he has made a full recovery.”