The dramatic rescue attempts to save a "miracle boy" restaurant manager who plunged almost 200ft from a popular rock stack in Oldham have featured on TV.
Imran Choudhury headed out from his South Chadderton home early in the morning on February 23, 2021, to walk to the Trinnacle, a three-pronged rock stack near Dovestone Reservoir, as part of his training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro later that year. The 37-year-old, who manages his family restaurant The New Polash in Chadderton, stopped halfway up to have some water and a snack, before continuing on and climbing the stack - broadcasting a Facebook Live to his followers to update them on his training.
Two walkers, Carly and Nadine, were close behind Imran, and took some pictures of him before he went to climb down. As he took two steps down, he slipped, and plunged almost 200ft down into the valley below. Now, the full series of events has been broadcast on BBC One's Close Calls: On Camera.
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He recalled: “At the end of the video I actually said 'if someone had a fall from here that’s going to be the end of the story for that person’. I remember taking two or three steps down, I don't remember anything else.”
Nadine instantly called 999 for help, whilst Carly climbed down the steep hillside to reach Imran. Another pair of walkers, Paul and Caroline, heard the girls shouting for help, and rushed to help rescue the dad-of-three.
When Paul and Carly reached Imran, they could see he had "catastrophic" injuries to his head and leg, and he kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Paul told the BBC Imran had some very obvious injuries, including his right leg being "virtually detached", but none of the injuries were bleeding particularly heavily. The pair made him comfortable, and waited for help.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was first on the scene, with the helicopter having difficulty landing in the windy conditions. Two paramedics and a surgeon walked from the helicopter, which had to land on flatter ground at the top of the cliff, and quickly realised Imran needed to be winched to safety, as carrying him up the hillside would be too dangerous.
Around 20 volunteers from Oldham Mountain Rescue Team were the next to arrive, helping to splint Imran's leg and get him into a stretcher, ready to be airlifted by the Coastguard Search and Rescue team. Adam Knight, one of the section leaders, said: "We were splinting his leg but I wasn’t convinced they’d be able to save his leg. He looked like he might not survive from the fall, we can assume that he had more injuries and definitely internal injuries as well. We knew that we were going to have to work quickly to get him out for him to have a chance."
An hour and a half after the fall, Imran was secured in a stretcher and ready to be airlifted to the top of the cliff, where the Air Ambulance was waiting and ready to transport him to Sheffield Northern General Hospital. Once there, doctors put him into an induced coma for three weeks to give Imran's body time to heal.
Tests showed Imran had broken 15 bones in his body, including his skull, spine, and ankle. His right leg had been crushed, needing to be put into a frame whilst new bone grew, and his right shoulder needed 12 pieces of metal to be put back together. There were fears Imran may never walk again, but with a lot of hard work and support from physiotherapists, he was able to take a few steps in hospital, continuing his recovery at home after two months on the ward.
"Everyone calls me a miracle boy," Imran said in the programme. "I think I’m here for a reason because I’ve been doing charity work for a long time and because I have more work to do, that’s why I’m still here." Since the accident, Imran has given out hundreds of free meals to the people who helped him, taking curries to Sheffield General, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and Oldham Mountain Rescue.
He's also been fundraising for all the services that came to his aid, raising £2,500 for the hospital that treated him and more than £3,600 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, with plans to raise money for Oldham Mountain Rescue Team in the works. Imran's story was featured on Episode 2 of Close Calls: On Camera Series 10, broadcast on Tuesday April 12. The episode is available to watch on iPlayer now.
