Watch dramatic rescue after teen plunges down 30ft high waterfall on mountain

Watch the dramatic mountain rescue mission to save a young man - who was close to death - after he plunged down a freezing waterfall during a freak blizzard.

Video shows how heroic rescue teams managed to get 18-year-old Ben Longton - and his dogs - to safety after he spent nine hours trapped alone in a snowy canyon when he broke his leg. The farm worker had neared the top of the 3,209ft (978m) peak in the Lake District on March 1 this year in fine weather but faced a freak blizzard on his descent.

And as he headed down paths covered by roughly 12 inches (30cm) of snow with his dogs, Dug and Bella, he tumbled down a waterfall. Ben’s dad called Cumbria Police when he failed to return home, who then tasked Wasdale Mountain Rescue with a night-time search operation. And remarkably, when volunteers shouted for him several hours later, Ben managed to blow his dog whistle which attracted their attention.

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The rescue of Ben Longton, 18, in snowy conditions on Scafell Pike, by Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.  The rescue of Ben Longton, 18, in snowy conditions on Scafell Pike, by Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.
The rescue of Ben Longton, 18, in snowy conditions on Scafell Pike, by Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team. | Wasdale MountainRescueTeam /SWNS

He was later winched to safety by Wasdale Mountain Rescue and a Coastguard helicopter took him to Preston Hospital where he spent the next three weeks recovering from severe hyperthermia. Ben has now returned home where he’s been forced to rest up for the last few weeks but is expected to recover fully.

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