Student survives fall

Ian Brown, 21, spent five hours alone on the freezing slopes of 4,406ft high Ben Nevis in Scotland while his climbing friend scrambled down to seek help.

He was rescued just after 10pm on Sunday and taken by RAF helicopter to a hospital in Fort William where he was treated for a fractured vertebra and bruising.

This week his mother Marie Brown of Mill Road said: 'He is still very shocked and we don't know very much about what happened.

'He is battered and they are keeping him in hospital for a few days before transferring him to a hospital either at his university town of Lancaster or back to Lewes.

'Needless to say, we are extremely relieved that he is relatively unhurt.

'Somebody up in heaven was watching over him.

'He only took up mountaineering seriously as a hobby 18 months ago. But he goes out every weekend and counts himself as experienced.

'He used to like walking on the Downs when he lived in Lewes but nothing high and hilly.'

Ian, a former pupil at Ringmer Community College and Varndean, is studying environmental sciences at Lancaster.

He was taking part with 26 other university hiking club members on a week-long climbing holiday in the Scottish Highlands when the accident happened.

He was on his way down when he apparently slipped on ice.

His friend gave him a torch and placed him in a survival bag. He then climbed down to raise the alarm at a youth hostel, triggering a major rescue effort.

A mountain rescue spokesman said the helicopter spotted his light. When the team got to him he was in good spirits and comfortable.