Teenager survives 35 foot Mow Cop plunge (From Warrington Guardian)

Teenager survives 35 foot Mow Cop plunge

A TEENAGER was inches from death after she plunged 35 feet from rocks at Mow Cop and broke her back last week.

As 13-year-old Rebecca Corbishley, from Boundary Lane, Congleton, faces six months of pain while her broken vertebrae start to heal, her mother Kim is calling for improved safety measures at the landmark before another child is seriously injured or killed.

Mrs Corbishley said: "Rebecca doesn't realise how lucky she is - if she had fallen from the other side of the rock she would be dead as there is a 100 foot drop.

"I am angry there were not more signs and fencing for protection and to alert people to the danger, as this is not the first serious accident on the hill."

Rebecca, a former Eaton Bank School pupil, was due to start this month at All Hallows High School, Macclesfield.

She was posing on a large rock overlooking the hill as her aunt, Tina England, took pictures on a mobile phone.

Tina became distracted and turned back to see Rebecca dangling from the edge before falling.

Mrs England and people nearby scrambled down the hill to find Rebecca regaining consciousness and screaming in agony.

Some children who had been playing nearby with Rebecca described their position to the emergency services over a mobile phone.

Mrs Corbishley arrived at the scene as an air ambulance was approaching.

Paramedics were forced to carry her 100 feet up the hill on a spinal board due to the dangerous location.

The family is planning fundraising events for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, which treated Rebecca, and the air ambulance, which they described as 'fantastic'.

After a week in hospital, Rebecca is now recovering at home.

Her mother said: "It will be a long healing process, and she needs a lot of rest and painkillers though she can walk with support."

Rebecca is determined to start at All Hallows this month as planned, though any slight knock could cause serious damage to her back.

A spokesman for the National Trust, which manages the site, expressed sympathy and said: "By its very nature Mow Cop is a craggy and rocky site.

"There are notices around the property warning visitors of these and in some areas, sections of the property have been fenced off accordingly."

kcooksey@guardiangrp.co.uk