Chris Lewis from Patterdale Mountain Rescue has died

Patterdale Mountain Rescue team has confirmed that Chris Lewis died at Furness General Hospital in Barrow on Monday.

Mr Lewis sustained life-changing injuries when he fell 150m on rough steep ground while responding to a call from wild campers, who broke coronavirus lockdown restrictions, at Red Screes, above Kirkstone Pass in February 2021. 

After lengthy hospital treatment he returned to his home near Hawkshead.

He never walked again and needed round-the-clock care. He continued to support the mountain rescue teams, including as a trustee of Patterdale MRT, and received the Inspiring Eden Award for his bravery and service to the community.

Mr Lewis was admitted to Furness General Hospital on September 2 with a chest infection and pneumonia and died two days later.

He was 60 at the time of his fall. Mike Blakey, a mountain rescue volunteer who was present when Mr Lewis was injured, said in 2021: "The incident was preventable; the two men who travelled up from separate cities were breaking guidelines and should not have been there.

READ MORE: Fundraiser to help support Patterdale Mountain Rescue worker Chris Lewis' life-changing injuries receives huge response

"However, this accident could have happened during any rescue operation and every member of the team knows and accepts the risks that come from being in the hills.”

The campers, from Liverpool and Leicester, were both fined £200.

When Mr Lewis was recovering in hospital, the chairman of the Patterdale team Chris Sanderson said: "Chris has been articulating well and his principal concern was for the welfare of the fellow he was out to rescue and how his fellow mountain rescue volunteers are dealing with this.

"That shows a lot about him as a man really."

A fundraiser set up by the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association in support of Mr Lewis raised more than £1m. Part of this fundraising came from a group of prominent landscape photographers selling their images at an auction. 

One of the auction volunteers Paula Mould said: "The idea for the auction came about after I, like many others, was moved and saddened by the plight of this heroic volunteer."

Mark Littlejohn, a previous winner of the Landscape Photographer of the Year said when he took part in the auction: "Chris’s story is really saddening and many of us have been very moved by it,

"As part of the landscape photography community, many of us spend extensive amounts of time in the hills in adverse weather conditions. We see the amount of time and effort volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Teams put in to protect and save members of the public. We are all devastated to hear about the injuries that Chris has sustained." 

Keswick Mountain Rescue team added: "Our thoughts are with Chris’ family and friends, and to our colleagues in the Patterdale team."