Peak District gamekeepers on quad bikes save teenager after collapsing in freezing snow on Stanage Edge
Two gamekeepers rushed to the rescue when a 17-year-old girl collapsed in freezing snow on Stanage Edge in the Peak District.
The teenager became unresponsive last Thursday (February 19) at the popular but remote walking hotspot on the Moscar Estate.
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Mother Carla Rowe and her three children set off at 8am in bright, freezing conditions with snow on the ground for a 10km walk.
However, two hours into the hike, fog closed in fast and her daughter Rheyah, 17, complained of feeling sick - before slumping into her mother and losing consciousness.
Rheyah was helped into the recovery position on wet, frozen ground and Carla’s younger daughter in tears, the family faced a desperate wait for help.
It was then that Moscar Estate gamekeepers, Tom and Thomas, appeared on quad bikes during their daily rounds.
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Tom, a young father who has worked the estate for four years, said: “I could see a woman waving and calling out of the fog which was worsening very quickly, her daughter was laid on the ground.
“I could see she was in a bad way, freezing cold, wet and unresponsive. Once I had made sure she hadn't had a fall and injured herself I knew I had to get them all off the hill and into a warm sheltered environment."
Tom gave the family a What3Words location for 999, wrapped his own jacket around Rheyah, and evacuated them by quad to the estate workshop to keep warm.
When paramedics arrived, Rheyah's blood sugar and blood pressure were found to be dangerously low.
Carla said: "Tom acted amazingly, he took control of the situation, knew what to do and acted so professionally. Tom and Thomas really stepped up and went above and beyond — they were our heroes."
It’s far from the first time groundskeepers have come to the rescue in The Peaks. In November 2025, a gamekeeper’s all-terrain 4x4 saved the day when a woman became stranded on Ladycross Estate.
And in January, a Yorkshire Dales gamekeeper pulled a stranded ambulance with a critically ill patient from deep snow during Storm Chandra
In a statement, Peak District Moorland Group claimed a survey of 58 UK grouse moors found gamekeepers assisted the public on over 1,500 occasions, including 646 lost walkers, 88 needing medical attention and 63 full rescues - and 85 per cent of those helped were because they were lost on Peak District moors.
International mountaineer Nigel Vardy said: "Once someone becomes a casualty, with the recent weather conditions, they will chill in minutes, and time is everything. They were extremely fortunate that the keepers came by — it was a life saver."
With 13.25 million day-visitors to the Peak District each year, this is a strong human interest story with a timely safety message for Star readers heading onto the moors this winter.