The search that ended at dusk on the edge of a Blisland wood

For most of Sunday, a man in his 40s was somewhere in the countryside around Blisland and nobody knew exactly where. By the time he was found, rain had soaked the ground, mist had closed in, and the light was going.

📷Search dog Teg'Or. Credit: East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team

Called in to help cover the ground

Devon and Cornwall Police had already been searching for the missing man, described as high-risk, when they asked East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team to help cover the sheer amount of ground involved. The call came in at 10:43am on Sunday 21 September.

Teams were sent out across dense undergrowth, steep ground, farmland and forestry. Conditions got harder as the day went on. Rain, mist and fading light all worked against the search, and between them ruled out using a helicopter for much of it.

Two dogs from Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England joined the operation, working through large stretches of ground far faster than searchers on foot could manage alone.

📷Searching into the evening as light faded. Credit: East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team

Found as the light went

As dusk closed in, two of the team’s own members found the man on the edge of a patch of steep woodland. They began casualty care immediately, and were quickly backed up by the team’s Remote Rescue Medical Technicians and its doctor, who worked together to stabilise him.

Getting him out was its own battle. He was evacuated by stretcher, over difficult ground, before being handed to the ambulance service. The team was stood down at 9pm, close to eleven hours after the first call came in.

Team doctor Dr Bruce Hughes said the outcome mattered more than most. “The team is called out around 40 times a year and regularly helps those who find themselves in trouble, however this was a vital find as it could have easily been a very different outcome if we had not have located him when we did. We wish him all the best with his recovery.”

An inland service run entirely by volunteers

East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team is a local charity that provides an inland search and rescue service for lost, missing and injured people across East Cornwall and further afield when required. It runs entirely on volunteers, and relies on public support to keep going. Anyone caught in an emergency in the area can dial 999 and ask Devon and Cornwall Police for Mountain Rescue.

The team is asking people to shop through easyfundraising at no extra cost to themselves, or to donate directly through Givey. There’s a new project on the way too, alongside a recruitment drive for new operational members, though the team isn’t saying yet exactly what either will involve.

📷The rendezvous point in Blisland. Credit: East Cornwall Search and Rescue Team