Dramatic rescue for Charlbury bellringer
Bellringer at St Mary's (and contributor to the website forum) Tony Merry was dramatically rescued by the Fire Service on Wednesday night after a ringing accident.
While ringing at the weekly practice, Tony is believed to have caught the rope on a set of keys attached to his trousers - lifting him some three feet off the floor. "The shock made me black out, and I lost consciousness, fell to the ground and bashed my shoulder," he said.
But because the bell chamber is reached by a narrow spiral staircase up the church tower, there was no way that he could be taken down the stairs on a stretcher - so paramedics took the decision to call the Fire Service.
The firemen then carried out a rescue using the trapdoor in the bottom of the bell chamber, originally installed to enable bells to be lifted up into the tower from ground level, but not used for many years. Despite some initial anxiety as to whether Tony would fit through, he was hoisted down with just 18in to spare.
The full-time Fire Service from Kidlington was joined by retained firefighters from Charlbury, keen to be involved in this unusual episode, and to see - and photograph - how the rescue was carried out. Bob Swanton, incident commander, later explained the technicalities to the Oxford Mail. "This type of rescue is rare and requires a very different approach with the casualty being secured in a special stretcher which is first lowered vertically and then horizontally using a pulley system to ensure the casualty does not remain suspended upright for too long."
Staff at the Horton Hospital, Banbury, later diagnosed a broken collarbone and Tony was discharged in Thursday afternoon - vowing he would be back ringing as soon as it heals. However, Charlbury residents are unlikely to hear the bells ringing out on Wednesday night or Sunday mornings for a week or two until the floorboards around the little-used trapdoor can be checked and repaired as necessary.
The incident has garnered national news attention with reports on the BBC website and Radio 2 as well as the Oxford Mail.
In a statement, the church said the rescue was "a tribute to the skill and professionalism of the three services involved, ambulance, fire and rescue, working together - we would like to thank them for their dedication and help".
Richard Fairhurst · Thu 15 May 2008, 21:59 · Link