Phone app guides medics to mum’s rescue after broken ankle on moorland but bone reset was pain ‘worse than childbirth’

A mum who broke her ankle after slipping on moorland was rescued and airlifted to hospital thanks to a phone app used to direct emergency services to her location now cannot wait to hike again despite the experience of her foot being reset on the moors being “more painful than childbirth”.

Sally Fillingham, 56, a sales adviser from Wyke, Yorkshire, was trekking with a friend to the Bronte Falls near Haworth, West Yorkshire, in May when she slipped and broke her left ankle.

She says she cannot stop remembering the image of her foot “facing the opposite direction”.

Unable to explain their location to emergency services, the pair used the location app what3words, which divides the world into three metre squares and gives each square a unique address, to guide the air ambulance to their exact spot in the countryside.

While she was waiting an hour and a half for the ambulance to arrive fellow hikers gathered to offer support – with some who were on the moors for a celebration even offering her champagne.

Now in recovery, Sally is still wearing a cast on her foot but looks forward to being able to hike again and return to her other passion of dancing, as she does modern jive.

Sally, who has one daughter, Charlotte, 23, who works for the NHS, said: “Having to have my ankle set on the moors before going to hospital was more painful than childbirth.

“I was in absolute agony, but I’m so grateful to the mountain rescue and air ambulance teams for helping me.

“Waiting an hour and a half for them to get to me felt like eternity when you’re in that much pain but it could have ended up being a lot longer if they hadn’t been able to locate us.”

Sally and her hiking buddy Angela have been friends for 15 years after meeting through the Brownies Girl Guides where Sally was volunteering as a Brown Owl leader.

The pair regularly walk together in the countryside and the ill-fated trip on May 28 this year was an opportunity for them to trek through moorland to the Bronte Falls in Bronte Country.

Sally said: “We were only about half an hour into the walk when the incident happened. The track wasn’t bad and it all happened so fast, I just lost my footing.”

Sally stumbled on loose gravel and “slid down” onto the ground.

Angela was walking ahead with the dog and heard a loud cry of her name as Sally hit the ground.

“One thing that keeps coming to my mind was Angela turning around to see I’d fallen, I looked down and saw my foot was facing the opposite direction,” Sally said.

Sally recalled feeling instant agony and “knew immediately” that her ankle was “at least dislocated”.

Knowing her friend would not be able to make her way back to the main road, Angela rang the emergency services.

The pair struggled to describe their location to the 999 operator until they were asked if either of them had the what3words app.

“There was no way of an ambulance finding us without knowing our exact spot and we were in the middle of nowhere,” Sally said.

“When they asked if we had what3words, Angela said she did and got the address for our location up on her phone.

“I’d never used the app before and I’m so glad she had it.”

However, Sally was not out of the woods as the call handler explained she would be waiting up to two hours for paramedics to arrive.

In extreme pain, Sally feared she would not be able to wait that long.

She added: “I was in such a state of shock that I was relieved Angela was with me through the ordeal.

“I was just in agony, absolute agony. The pain was horrendous.

“Passersby were so amazing. People asked me if I needed water or tablets.

“Someone offered me a blanket, another person left me their coat and someone else even asked if we wanted some champagne – they were celebrating and said that seeing we were stuck there we may as well have a drink.

“Some other people offered to help get me to the road but I was in too much pain to be moved.”

An hour and a half after making the 999 call, the air ambulance landed on the moors near the pair, and the doctor and paramedics jogged over to assist them.

When they arrived at the scene, it was discovered that Sally’s ankle was broken and it would need to be reset there before travelling to hospital.

Beforehand, Sally was given painkillers but said the agony she experienced was “worse than childbirth”.

She added: “Honestly, I’d rather have a baby again but I’m so, so grateful to the mountain rescue and the air ambulance because otherwise I’d probably still be up there.”

With her ankle reset, Sally was airlifted to Airedale Hospital in West Yorkshire.

Once there, she underwent surgery and had pins screwed into her bones to stabilise her ankle.

Sally then spent a further 11 days recovering in hospital before being discharged with a leg cast to recuperate at home.

Sally’s ankle is still in a cast but she said her friends and family have “rallied” around her as support.

She said: “My family and my friends have all been absolutely super, they’ve been amazing.

“It really shows you who your friends are when something like this happens and they have been there for me during this.”

The incident has not deterred Sally from her hikes as she cannot wait to be back on the trails as soon as she is able.

Sally added: “Unfortunately, it was a really bad break and it’s going to be a long recovery process but I’m looking forward to going for walks again when I can because I love my walks.

“I’m a dancer as well, I do modern jive and I’m really missing it.

“I’m not somebody who can sit all day, I love being active and I will be hiking again as soon as I’m allowed to.”