OM Blogrespondent In Helicopter Rescue

It's been a bit of a torrid few days for OUTDOORSmagic's man on the blogging frontline, Weird Darren, who had to be helicoptered to safety after being overcome by illness during his attempt at this year's TGO Challenge.

It was the second blow to our special blogrespondent's epic walk after team-mate Dave Mycroft had to pull out at the last minute for personal reasons. Darren went ahead alone, but unfortunately a bug which had severely curtailed his training seems to have returned leaving him seriously weakened and camped in an isolated valley at the end of a remote loch.

Fortunately Darren's companion, Phil, took stock of the situation and leaving a very sick and weak Darren, walked out to a point where he could use his mobile to summon help. That apparently took him around ten hours. He was able to pass Darren's exact position onto the mountain rescue team and the RAF.

Darren - left, in healthier mode - was eventually helicoptered out and taken by ambulance to hospital in Fort William, where he spent a few days recuperating before returning home by train.

You can read Darren's personal account of his rescue on his blog at whitespider1066.spaces.live.com. In the meantime, we'd like to wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.