An army reservist crawled for almost three hours in the dark with a broken leg to find help after slipping on a rocky beach while on holiday in Dorset.
Tim Robinson, 54, fell while walking on Seatown beach near Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast, sustaining a double break to his lower right leg.
With no mobile phone on him, he dragged himself off the rocks and crawled along the shingle beach towards Seatown, a hamlet with a few cottages, a farm and a pub.
It took Robinson, an experienced member of the Territorial Army, almost three hours to crawl three-quarters of a mile before he was discovered by his wife, Paula, who had gone looking for him after becoming concerned.
She found him by following the light of his torch, which he happened to have in his pocket.
Paula Robinson ran back to Seatown to raise the alarm before returning to her husband to wait for the emergency services.
Four rescue officers from the West Bay coastguard team responded and the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched.
When the coastguard officers arrived at Seatown they saw faint torchlight on the beach and made their way to the spot with a stretcher. Meanwhile, two RNLI crew members swam ashore with a waterproof first aid kit including oxygen.
Because it was too foggy for the coastguard rescue helicopter to help, the lifeboat beached nearby and Robinson was taken on the vessel to Lyme Regis and from there on to Dorset county hospital.
The boat had to go slowly to make the trip as comfortable as possible for Robinson. It reached Lyme Regis at 8.30pm, four hours after the accident.
Richard Broome, lifeboat helm, said: “He was in quite a bit of pain by the time we got to him but I think his army training helped him.”
A coastguard spokesperson said: “This was a great example of the coastguard and RNLI working together to bring to an end what was quite an ordeal for the casualty. We want to wish him all the best for the up and coming surgeries to his leg, and hope he has a full and speedy recovery.”
The spokesperson added: “Please make sure that you are fully prepared for walking on the coast and always make sure you have a fully charged mobile phone, adequate clothing, sturdy footwear and water.
“Using a free smartphone app like OS Locate would also mean you could give an accurate grid reference to emergency services, drastically cutting down the time it takes for help to get to you.”
Robinson, a full-time member of the Territorial Army, said: “I just slipped on a rock and have two fractures of the right leg. Everyone who helped me was just terrific.”
Explaining how she found him, Paula Robinson added: “Tim had a torch but no mobile phone. I saw a flicker of light and thought it must be him.”
The Robinsons are from the Midlands and were on holiday in Dorset. The accident happened on Saturday afternoon and it is understood that Robinson is still in hospital waiting for an operation.
