A HIKER who had to undergo surgery after a horror fall has thanked the ‘incredible’ mountain rescue team and hospital staff who came to her aid.

Cynthia Bacon travelled from her home in Northern California to the Lake District to carry out her dream of hiking through the Cumbrian fells.

However, the 62-year-old was only able to complete a few days of her Cumbrian adventure before an injury put her Lake District dreams to a halt.

Ms Bacon, who works as a travel agent, was scaling Helm Crag when the incident took place.

“I knew it was steep but I was experienced,” she said.

“But it was raining pretty bad the night before so the path was full of water and it was quite slippy.”

While descending the fell, Ms Bacon lost her footing. Unable to stand, she contacted mountain rescue who came to her assistance in less than ten minutes.

“They were really quick,” she said.

“There were ten of them out looking for me and when they found me they were so thorough in making sure I was okay. I was almost in tears.

“I was put in a brace and three of them carried me down the fell and kept me warm. They took me down to the bottom and put me into an ambulance.”

Ms Bacon was taken to Furness General Hospital and told that she had broken her leg and would have to undergo surgery to insert screws into the bone.

“The doctors at the hospital were all amazing,” she said.

“They all explained everything about the surgery and the nurses were so caring. The NHS compared to the US healthcare system is wonderful.”

Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Ms Bacon has not been deterred from returning to the Lakes in the near future.

She said: “I want to come back next year to the Lakes and finish what I was planning here.

“I’ll definitely be more careful this time and maybe carry a little less weight on my back. It’s a beautiful part of the world which I’d love to explore more.”