An elderly man has been dramatically rescued and airlifted to hospital after a terrifying 40ft fall from a cliff at Loch Lomond in Scotland. The pensioner was only rescued thanks to local fishermen who hear him crying out.
The Loch Lomond Rescue Boat (LLRB) team sprang into action near Rob Roy’s Cave following a distress call at 6.50pm about an 87-year-old who had accidentally plunged off the cliff three hours earlier.
A nearby fishing vessel picked up the pensioner’s cries for help and promptly alerted the authorities, leading to LLRB being informed of the incident.
Lifeboat volunteers swiftly provided first aid, administered pain relief, and took precautions to immobilise the injured man, safeguarding his spine and pelvis due to the severity of his injuries. Loch Lomond is a popular destination as both the UK’s largest body of water by surface area and as one of the country’s most stunning landscapes.
With the assistance of the Scottish Ambulance Service trauma team, the casualty was conveyed by lifeboat to Inveruglas power station, from where he was flown to hospital for advanced care, with the LLRB crew wrapping up their mission by 9pm.
Earlier that day, the LLRB had also helped a 19-year-old German tourist who had injured her ankle on the West Highland Way, just north of Ivow Island on Loch Lomond’s eastern shore, reports the Daily Record.
Upon arrival, the rescue team assessed and stabilised the young woman’s injury before transporting her by boat to Inveruglas, where she was handed over to the Scottish Ambulance Service for further medical attention.
In a statement, an LLRB spokesperson recounted the hectic evening: “BUSY EVENING FOR LLRB. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat were paged by Police Scotland at 17:05hrs on 11/8/25 to reports of a 19 year old German female walker on the West Highland Way who had sustained an ankle injury and requiring medical assistance.
“LLRB launched and made way to the location just North of Ivow Island on the east side of Loch Lomond. Once on scene, our crew began assessing the casualty and strapping the ankle before moving the casualty onto the boat and transferring over to Inveruglas where the the patient was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment.
“Just as the crew were standing down at 18:50 hrs a radio call came in from Police Scotland to reports of an 87 year old male who had fallen 40ft from a cliff in the area of Rob Roy’s Cave 3 hrs earlier.”
The statement continued: “Luckily a passing fishing boat heard the males calls for help and called the police. LLRB made way over the Loch and once on location commenced casualty care, providing pain relief to the injured male and due to the nature of his injuries fully immobilised him Protecting his spine and pelvis.
“Crew requested assistance from Scottish ambulance trauma team and after packaging him with assistance from national park transferred him via lifeboat to Inveruglas power station and handed over to the ambulance crew and helimed five for further treatment. Crew stood down and returned to base at 9pm.
“Massive thank you to the fisherman that called this one on.”