Man beats fell challenge after near-fatal attempt

Four years after showing no signs of life while being saved by mountain rescuers, a fell runner has returned to conquer the hills that nearly killed him.

In 2022, Tommy Price became unwell while attempting a running challenge in the Lake District and suffered a cardiac arrest triggered by hypothermia.

The 26-year-old, who was helped by Keswick Mountain Rescue, has now returned and completed the 66 mile (106km) Bob Graham Round.

Price, who said he had been given a "second chance" by the rescue team who returned to greet him at the finish line, explained: "I am very lucky to be alive and even luckier to be able to run still. It was unfinished business and I had to do it to finish the story."

He had been airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle after being found lying facedown in the snow on Hall's Fell in January 2022.

Doctors slowly raised his body temperature - which had fallen to 18C - to 37C before shocking his heart back into beating.

He was in an induced coma for five days and he had no feeling in his hands and feet, which took a full year to fully come back.

Nine months later, Price took on the London Marathon and completed it in 3 hours 10 minutes.

The 26-year-old said he could not remember anything from his first attempt at completing the Bob Graham Round, only driving to the Lake District to start it.

Keswick Mountain Rescue volunteer Jonny Hulme, one of the first on scene in 2022, supported Price on the first leg of his second attempt at the challenge, while Dr John Ferris, who escorted Price to the RVI in 2022, was waiting at the finish line to congratulate him with the rest of the team.

A spokesperson for the rescuers said: "Huge congratulations Tommy from everyone at the team."

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