Snowbound baby rescued by Royal Navy rescue helicopter

The quick intervention of a Royal Navy Search and Rescue helicopter helped extract a young child who had taken ill while stranded in a snow-bound house near Langholm.

The one-year-old, who was described as ‘unresponsive’ at the scene, was airlifted to hospital in Carlisle by Flight 177 based at HMS Gannet, Prestwick.

The alarm was raised by the child’s family earlier this morning at their remote farmhouse near Whisgills in the Scottish Borders. 

A local ambulance became stuck in the wintry road conditions en route, and Glasgow’s Air Ambulance helicopter was not given permission to fly in the driving snow showers sweeping west and central Scotland at that time.

SAR 177’s Sea King Mk4 helicopter was scrambled and managed to get through to recover the sick child and his mother.

A local GP, who had been able to fight his way through to the house, had provided excellent primary care and on arrival at the hospital, the child’s condition was said to have improved to ‘alert’.