Description
Bassett runs an outdoor activities centre that is popular with hikers. Wooster is a keen mountaineer and visits the centre with his friend, Jeeves. They decide to go on a guided hike with Bassett. Before departing, Bassett gives a safety briefing and warns that ‘The outdoors can be dangerous sometimes.’ Unperturbed, Wooster and Jeeves set off.
During the hike, Bassett brings Wooster and Jeeves to a 60-metre (200-foot) rock face known as ‘The Witch’s Wall’. Jeeves lacks climbing experience, but Bassett tells him that the climb is easier than it looks. Bassett hands both men a length of rope, a harness, and a carabiner. Jeeves asks if he can also wear a helmet, but Bassett failed to bring any with him. Wooster, who has won climbing competitions, reassures Jeeves that a helmet is not necessary, and, in any case, it would impede their view of the beautiful mountain scenery.
Jeeves begins to climb first and reaches the top without incident. Wooster then follows and climbs about 5 metres (16 feet) when his carabiner buckles. Wooster falls and suffers a serious head injury.
Jeeves rings for an ambulance. When the paramedics arrive, they find that they do not have the right equipment to reach Wooster. They contact the mountain rescue service, which dispatches a helicopter to airlift Wooster to hospital. The pilot misreads the location’s co- ordinates and initially goes to the wrong place. By the time the helicopter arrives, more than two hours have elapsed since Wooster’s fall. The mountain rescue team lifts Wooster onto a stretcher secured to the helicopter by a winch. As the helicopter is leaving the scene, the pilot is careless and the stretcher collides with The Witch’s Wall. Wooster suffers a broken leg in the impact.
When Wooster arrives at hospital, a doctor finds that he has a subdural haematoma. If he had arrived at the hospital within an hour of his fall, Wooster would have had a 95% chance of making a full recovery. Owing to the delay, that chance was reduced to 45%. Wooster is eventually left with permanent brain damage. Medical evidence suggests that it is possible that Wooster’s injuries would have been less serious if he had been wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
It later transpires that the carabiners Bassett supplied to Wooster and Jeeves were designed for a children’s swing set and could only bear a maximum weight of 50kg (110lbs). Wooster weighed 75kg (165lbs) at the time of the accident. According to industry guidelines, carabiners used for climbing should be able to withstand weights of up to 2,000kg (4,409lbs). Despite this, Bassett insists that it is common practice to use lighter-duty carabiners for climbs of up to 100 metres (328 feet) and that it is well known that the 50kg clips are stronger than is claimed. Bassett says that he has been a climbing guide for over 20 years and has always used lighter-duty carabiners on The Witch’s Wall. They are cheaper to maintain and easy to use. Moreover, the carabiners have only buckled three times out of tens of thousands of climbs. Besides, Bassett says that Wooster knew the risks and would not have worn a helmet in any case.
In the weeks following the accident, Jeeves begins to suffer from nightmares and anxiety. He has struggled with the realisation that it could just as easily have been his carabiner that gave way. Jeeves’ doctor has referred him for counselling.
Advise Wooster and Jeeves as to any claims they may have in negligence.
