Long-distance distress alarm saves walker

AN elderly long-distance walker who collapsed in the Highlands was rescued today after a distress beacon was picked-up 4000 miles away in America.

The RAF, who co-ordinated the Danish man's rescue, said it was the first activation of a new type of distress transmitter in the UK.

The man activated the beacon at around 3am after collapsing 15 miles south of Fort William while on a long-distance solo trek.

When he pressed the emergency button on a handset the size of a TV remote control, a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) text message arrived 4000 miles away in Houston, Texas, at the GEOS Emergency Response Centre.

They contacted police in Fort William, who alerted RAF Kinloss.