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A WALKER was rescued after hanging one-handed from a mountain – and texting for help with his other hand.

The 20-year-old German got stuck on a ledge 2500ft up on Lota Coirrie in the Cuillins, on the Isle of Skye. He had taken a wrong turn on a tourist trail.

Despite his plight, he managed to use one hand to raise the alarm.

But a poor phone signal meant rescuers spent more than eight hours trying to find him on Wednesday.

Skye mountain rescue team leader Gerry Akroyd explained: “It seems he was using a picture of a map he had taken at his last hostel but he took the wrong turn and ended up on Lota Coirrie,

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“He got frightened trying a move and got stuck on a sloping ledge. We got text messages but where he said he was, he wasn’t. We had people all over the area trying to find him.”

The crews eventually used a satellite-linked website system to locate him – using the signal from one of his texts – and Stornoway Coastguard search and rescue helicopter airlifted him off at 8.30pm.

Gerry added: “We found him hanging on by one hand.

“He is a very lucky lad to be alive. He was having to use one hand to text. He used the flash on his camera phone to show us where he was.

“If he had fallen, he would not be here. He was cold but he did not need medical treatment. He has certainly used up one of his nine lives.”

Meanwhile, a woman in her 50s was airlifted from Ben Nevis by the same helicopter after becoming unwell. She was found to be suffering from exhaustion.