Charity rider cheats death

Mar 13 2009 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Friday

CYCLIST David Walden cheated death after being caught in a freak hailstorm – and said he only lived to tell the tale thanks to a kind-hearted pensioner.

The 50-year-old from Dumfries approached the woman’s door in Auldgirth slurring his words and struggling to stand up after being battered by the extreme weather on the outskirts of the village.

He was later found to be suffering from hypothermia.

David told the Standard: “My face and lips were blue and she realised I needed help and took me into the warm.

“She called my daughter for me who took me to hospital. I would say she saved my life.”

He had been training on the back roads for a charity bike ride in May for Maggie’s Cancer Centres in memory of his father who died of the disease.

It had been a sunny but cold day last Wednesday when he set off and had travelled around 22 miles from his home up to Penpont and was returning via Auldgirth when the storm took him by surprise.

The huge hailstones became so painful that he was forced to stop and shelter under a tree for 20 minutes.

But, as the air temperature plummeted, David’s body started reacting to the conditions.

He said: “I got back on my bike, however it became apparent to me that not all was well.

“I was struggling to pedal and trying to keep the bike upright and in a straight line was proving very difficult. By the time I reached Auldgirth I was extremely cold and in a serious condition.”

He added: “When I went to the woman’s door, she handed me a phone but my brain couldn’t tell my fingers what to do.

“She had a friend with her in the house who was a nurse, I think, and she immediately recognised what was wrong with me.

“I was slurring my speech, I think my body was shutting down.”

His daughter, Sarah, along with her husband Jim Kirkpatrick, came and picked David up and took him to Dumfries Infirmary.

And wife Jayne, 50, was already there waiting for him – as she’s a nurse at the hospital.

He was taken into a specialist recovery ward where doctors injected warm fluid into his veins and used a heat blanket to slowly raise his body temperature.

It was found to be dangerously low at 32.3 degrees.

Around six-hours later David, who works in the civil service, was able to return home, albeit feeling like he had “taken a beating internally”.

Reflecting on the drama yesterday, the experienced outdoor adventurer, who has climbed Mount Blanc, admits he was taken by surprise by the weather and was under-prepared without his mobile phone or equipment in a backpack.

“It was totally unexpected as it was a sunny but cold and dry day when I set out.

“I had gloves on, two training tops and tracksuit bottoms on but I didn’t have anything on my head.

“Looking back on it I should have been more prepared but I think it was because I stopped my body temperature got too low.

“Hopefully this will serve as a warning to other people.”

Anyone who wants to sponsor David on the 72-mile Fort William to Inverness walking and cycling event on May 2 and 3, can contact him at dglenburnie@tiscali.co.uk.