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Elgin woman joins fight to save helicopter that saved her life

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A Moray woman has joined the fight to save the famous yellow helicopter which saved her life more than a decade ago.

Pat Smith was reunited with RAF winchman Mark Lean – who plucked her from the cliffs at Rubha Reidh, near the Gairloch Lighthouse – during a visit to the Morayvia Save a Sea King fundraising shop in Elgin’s St Giles Centre.

The iconic Lossiemouth-based search and rescue (SAR) aircraft are due to be withdrawn from service in March.

The Morayvia is trying to raise funds to retain one of the decommissioned helicopters as the centrepiece of a permanent display at Kinloss.

Mrs Smith still vividly remembers the day she was rescued.

She said: “We were on our way back to the car when I slipped on a rock and fell down into a stream at the bottom of a gully.

“It seemed like a very ordinary incident at the time, but I could not walk or even stand, so we had to call for the emergency services.

“The only way to reach that spot was by helicopter – so I was very lucky in that the Sea King was working in Skye at the time and they were with us in a couple of hours.

“Mark was the winchman, and I was later delighted to meet him at the RAF base with my grandchildren to personally thank him and his fellow airmen.”

Mrs Smith added: “It is important for Moray to be able to retain a link with the Sea King, which has become an institution in this part of Scotland. I know that I personally will always have very fond memories of this aircraft.”

Flight Sergeant Lean remembered the rescue well, not least because of the unexpected surprise that he shared the home town of the lady he was lifting that day.

The Sea King will be replaced by a civilian service from April, but Flt Sgt Lean was quick to point out that the expertise built by the military search and rescue was not being lost.

The Elgin serviceman said: “Some of us will remain in the service while a few will leave – but others will join the new civilian service at Inverness and other parts of the country.

“There will be quite a bit of local knowledge going over to work for the civilian service, so the long experience we have had as a military SAR will be taken forward into the future.”