Chemistry professor injured in 130ft fall

A York Chemistry professor is in hospital having sustained major injuries, after falling down a hill while hiking.

Professor Sir John Holman was walking in Borrowdale, in the Lake District, when he fell 130ft down a hill.

The RAF, air ambulance crew and mountain rescue teams were called to save him.

A spokesman for the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team told York Press: “He was winched out of the gyll, and flown down to Seathwaite Farm, where he was transferred to the air ambulance.”

The Keswick Mountain Rescue Team leader Chris Higgins said: “The weather was pretty awful… it was fairly windy, and the rocks were slippery.

“It’s fantastic that the helicopters were able to fly in those conditions.”

Sir John suffered “major head, chest and back injuries,” but his life is not believed to be in danger.

The professor gained a knighthood for services to education, and was named as one of the 100 leading practising and inspirational UK scientists by the Science Council last year.

Sir John is also the senior advisor in education at the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Foundation, as well as having served four years as advisor to the Government as the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) director.

The University and the Wellcome Trust declined to comment on the incident.