Caithness mountain rescue hero helping save lives despite terminal illness says 'MBE is something to leave behind to my wife'

Press and Journal

a day ago

At 4,400 metres up, Charlie MacLeod was stranded atop the summit of the Matterhorn with his climbing partner dead just below him and no rope to help him down.
It was his darkest moment, stuck in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the dead of winter, with no choice but to wait for a mountain rescue helicopter to bring him to safety.
But, it was also the day on which he decided on a life of helping others – often those experiencing their darkest day, as Charlie once did.
It's four decades since he made that decision and Charlie has since dedicated more than 15 years to Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) and the Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA).
His work has seen him navigate 'countless' rescues, from quick extractions to exhausting nine-day operations.
Mr MacLeod, of Ulbster in Caithness, continues to help save lives to this day as a staff trainer at SMR and a dog trainer at SARDA – even while battling a terminal prostate cancer diagnosis.
He was given the news two years ago and is currently receiving radium treatment at Raigmore Hospital.
Mobility issues and bouts of severe pain mean he is not scaling mountains any more – but he still provides a crucial service to as a staff trainer.
His ongoing service has seen him included on the King's Birthday Honours list – in which he has been made an MBE.
'It was a massive surprise, I wasn't expecting it at all,' he told us.
'I'm more proud than anything – the fact that the folk in the team thought I was worthy and nominated me.
'They do all the hard work and I'm more proud for them more than anything else.
'It is nice, but we don't do what we do for awards. We just want to help people.'
Mr MacLeod joined the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team in October 2009, having met the team while he raised funds for Alzheimer's charities and Aberdeen Mountain Rescue at a sponsored walk that year.
Before that he had spent more than 20 years working as a physiotherapist in Stirling.
Spurred on by his own rescue experience back in the 80s, he joined up with the team to 'repay the favour'.
He said it had been a 'privilege' to give back to those who saved his life all those years ago.
Charlie said: 'I was rescued myself a long time ago.
'I did the North Face of the Matterhorn in winter and my mate was killed just below the summit.
'We had no rope to descend either because we lost it.
'I had to get helicoptered off the top of the mountain, so I know what it's like to be rescued.
'I wanted to be able to repay that. And to be able to do that throughout my career has been a privilege really.
'Bad things can happen to anybody and so it's nice to be able to help people who are having a really bad day.
'I think most people in the mountain rescue are the exact same.'
Charlie said the 'extreme' situation he found himself in gives him a unique perspective on rescuing, and serves as motivation for the job.
He continued: 'I want to help people who have had a bad day. That's my motivation.
'We just want to do our best for these people.
'At it's core, it's just being there for people when they are in need.'
Charlie has been the team's training officer since 2013, passing on his skills, particularly in the area of avalanche risks.
His roles have seen him respond to many call outs, as a team member or dog handler, undertaking numerous multi-day searches and going 'above and beyond' to bring loved ones home all across Scotland.
Even with the immense challenges presented by his terminal cancer diagnosis, he is still made to feel 'part of the team' at SMR and SARDA.
He added that being part of that team has helped him get this far, through the gruelling cancer treatments.
Charlie tells me: 'My situation is a bit unique.
'I currently have terminal prostate cancer, but the mountain rescue teams and SARDA have just been so fantastic with me.
'They have been so good in supporting me, because my mobility is now severely limited.
'I am so proud to be a part of an organisation like that.'
He added: 'Even through my end of life care, they have allowed me to still feel needed and important and still feel I have lot to offer in terms of the training.
'It has been tough. I'm in a lot of pain and more recently my treatments are failing.'
Charlie concedes that his time 'is now limited,' but hopes that this MBE will give his wife Liz something to cherish after he is gone.
'It is going to be something really special that I can share with my wife Liz, to give her something to remember and hang on to.
'That means the world to me'.