Jason Liversidge's
descent of Lancaster Hole: .
On Monday 1st
October, a few members of the Red Rose helped some members of Bendrigg Trust,
to get Jason (who suffers from Motor Neurons Disease) to the bottom of
Lancaster Hole along with his wife, Liz and two young children Lilly and poppy.
The joint effort was set up by Steve Gray and crew, the descending rig was
assembled the day before (by several RRCPC members) in readiness for the event.
Jason
(with his carers Jo and Stig) managed to steer his fantastic wheelchair all the
way to the hole on his own and he and his family had a fantastic descent and
more importantly return to the top of the hole. Our heroes Steve, Daniel, Bill
and Ray did the majority of the lowering and hauling, while the Bendrigg team
of Dave, Jenny and our own Jack sorted out the pitch work. Liz descended with
Poppy slung underneath her, Stig with Lilly and Jason carefully guided down by
Jenny.
The whole
event was recorded by the BBC for showing on the Inside Out programme on Monday
8th October. The BBC cameramen descended the hole to film the
descent and the transfer to and from the cave.
Our thanks
to all our members who helped set up, execute and dismantle all the gear needed
to make Jason’s day a most memorable experience. There was an enormous amount
of gear to carry to and from the cave but it all appeared and disappeared
without any dramas, amazing!
Ray Duffy
