Fell runner describes how her two dogs ‘communicated with each other’ to bring help

Fell runner describes how her two dogs ‘communicated with each other’ to bring help after she broke her leg on remote moorland in the 75mph gales of Storm Gareth

  • Pita Oates broke her leg on Great Hill in Lancashire in the midst of Storm Gareth
  • She was trapped on remote moorland in 75mph gale with her two border collies 
  • Fell runner said Buddy and Merlyn ‘communicated with each other’ to bring help 

A fell runner has recalled the moment her two dogs ‘communicated with each other’ to find her help after she fell and broke her leg on moorland during a vicious storm.

Pita Oates, 48, was trapped for hours in the midst of Storm Gareth in March when she collided with one of her pooches and injured her leg on Great Hill in Lancashire.

Her plight in the 75mph gales was featured in the Channel 4 documentary Britain’s Wildest Weather 2019, which was broadcast earlier this week.

Mrs Oates, from Leyland, had arrived at the summit near Chorley for a ‘routine run’ on March 12, when the storm appeared to have subsided into what she dubbed a ‘stunning’ day.

Pita Oates, 48, was trapped for hours in the midst of Storm Gareth when she collided with one of her pooches and injured her leg on Great Hill in Lancashire

But just minutes later, Mrs Oates – who was accompanied by her blue border collies Buddy and Merlyn – collided with one of her dogs near the top of the hill, crashed to the ground and hit her left knee.

It later became apparent that Mrs Oates had broken her leg, and she soon began to suffer from hypothermia after three hours caught in the vicious gales.

As the night drew closer, the pet owner’s situation became increasingly desperate as she had left her mobile phone in her van ahead of the three-mile run.

‘I tried to get up off the ground and use the side of the wall to help me push up but as soon as I stood on both feet I just collapsed again and it was going dark’, she said.

‘I did shout for help but the wind was whipping, it started to really hurt my ears as well and I just knew that if there was anybody around there’s no way that they would have heard me shouting. Not in those conditions’.

The fell runner claims her blue border collies Merlyn and Buddy 'communicated with each other' to find her help in the 75mph gales

The fell runner claims her blue border collies Merlyn and Buddy ‘communicated with each other’ to find her help in the 75mph gales

'I realised then that they were actually communicating with each other', Mrs Oates said

‘I realised then that they were actually communicating with each other’, Mrs Oates said

The fell runner recalled falling in and out of consciousness on the hill as she desperately tried to move herself away from the gales with a broken leg.

Soon, she managed to shuffle down the path on her backside in a journey that took 90 minutes. It was at this point she noticed that one of her dogs, Merlyn, was missing.

‘Buddy stayed by my side pretty much the whole time, but Merlyn disappeared and I’m getting a bit concerned about that because usually they’re together all the time’, she said.

But then, Mrs Oates noticed she could hear both her dogs barking from different points on the path.

‘Buddy started barking right by my ear. The wind was so lively I hadn’t heard Merlyn barking farther up but as I got closer to the bottom I could hear Merlyn barking,’ she said.

Emergency services were called and Mrs Oates was rushed to Preston Royal Hospital where she discovered she had broken her femur in two places

Emergency services were called and Mrs Oates was rushed to Preston Royal Hospital where she discovered she had broken her femur in two places

‘I realised then that they were actually communicating with each other’.

Her missing dog had managed to locate a dog walker, she said, and had worked with Buddy to bring her help.  

‘I would have died without a doubt, I wouldn’t have lasted the night,’ she told the BBC at the time. 

Soon, the emergency services were called and Mrs Oates was rushed to Preston Royal Hospital where she discovered she had broken her femur in two places and had dislocated her knee.

‘They saved the day. Without a doubt, they saved the day’, she said.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk