TAAS organises successful rescue of injured trekker from remote West Sikkim

TREKKER WITH FRACTURED LEG STRETCHERED OVER TWO DAYS TO CHEWA BHANJYANG, THEN AIRLIFTED TO GANGTOK
GANGTOK, 23 Oct: Sheelagh Ailene Rodgers [59] was rescued by a team of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim and support team of Sikkim Holidays, a local trekking agency, after she was stranded with a broken leg due to a slip on the wet trail in Ghopte, about 9 km from Chewa Bhanjyang, West Sikkim, informs a TAAS release.

Ms. Rodgers, who hails from Scotland, was trekking in the Singalila range at a height of 4,000 meters in West Sikkim along with her friends Allis, Ann, Moira (Scotland) and Carol from the US. Sikkim Holidays had organised the trek.
According to the TAAS release, the trekking team had left Uttarey in West Sikkim to trek in the Singalila on 18 Oct with full trekking equipment and other logistical support. On 20 Oct, at around 1 pm, while crossing a wet trail, Ms. Rodgers slipped over the snow and suffered two fractures on her leg.
A support team was pressed to the rescue efforts by the TAAS president Lukendra Rasaily with the help of locals of the area. Lalhang Subba led the 12-member rescue team to Ghopte. A helicopter could not be sent immediately due to bad weather conditions prevailing at the time, the release mentions.
The rescue team carried Ms. Rodgers in a makeshift stretcher over extremely difficult terrain and brought her to Chewa Bhanjyang. This exercise took two days.
Incessant rain, a snow storm and high velocity cold winds did not deter the rescue team which spent a night in a Yak herder’s hut along the way, the release informs.
Tourism Secretary, Nim Yethenpa, was apprised of the situation and TAAS requested for a helicopter to airlift Ms. Rodgers from Chewa Bhanjyang, which lies at an altitude of 10,147 feet. Meanwhile, Ms. Rodgers was brought to Sikkim Armed Police camp at Chewa Bhanjyang where the stay had been organized by the force.
On 22 Oct, a Pawan Hans Helicopter operated by ther Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation airlifted Ms. Rodgers to Gangtok in a 70 minute mission at a cost of Rs. 84,000, the release informs.  Ms. Rodgers was immediately taken to the Central Referral Hospital in Gangtok by the TAAS rescue team and was later transferred to STNM Hospital where she is undergoing treatment at present.
“Lallhang and the team were extremely helpful and when I saw the chopper hovering over the camp, I felt very happy and safe,” Ms. Rodgers shared with a TAAS team which called on her in Gangtok.