British Army soldiers bravely parachuted onto Tristan da Cunha, one of the world's most remote and isolated islands, to help a British citizen suffering from hantavirus. Using supplies and medical supplies airdropped from an aircraft, they successfully delivered aid to the island's only hospital.
Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREE British Army soldiers jumped out of a plane in an incredible parachute aid mission to help a hantavirus victim on one of the world's most remote islands.
The Ministry of Defence released the footage, filmed from a paratrooper's helmet, capturing the daring jump by a member of the Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team. The paratrooper landed into Tristan da Cunha, one of the world's most isolated communities, to deliver vital medical support to a British citizen suffering from the rat-borne hantavirus.
The soldier was captured bravely jumping off the edge of an Army plane, deploying his parachute and navigating high winds and a challenging territory before finally landing safely on two feet. The island, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the world's most remote inhabited island. The paratroopers carried out the brave mission to treat a British national who lives on the island and was suffering from hantavirus, after disembarking from the cruise ship MV Hondius.
In total, six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade, had to be airdropped onto the island in the South Atlantic, as the territory does not have an airstrip. Captain George Lacey, who jumped with the Pathfinders Platoon based in Colchester, Essex, told BBC News: 'The guys in Pathfinders, of which I'm a part, we're trained in high-altitude parachuting and all the guys have got hundreds of jumps.
One parachuter filmed his daring jump off the plane onto the world's most remote inhabited island, Tristan da Cunha The highly-trained parachuter had to navigate strong winds and a challenging landscape But all jumpers landed safely on the island, where one reported they were greeted and 'welcomed' by locals who were 'very happy' to see them British Army paratroopers pictured aboard the RAF A400 preparing for the drop, carried out to provide medical support and supplies 'But I had to say this was a particularly tricky one - the winds obviously coming off the South Atlantic were quite strong, and we were sort of dropped about 5km over the sea, so everyone was focused and knew we were going to get the jump done, but it was a technical jump that was for sure.
'When we landed, the population or the people living on the island were very happy to see us. We've been welcomed onto the island.
'None of us have had any contact with the patient, it's very calm here, everyone's just happy that the support's here and the medical staff are dealing with the patient as best possible. ' The team flew from the UK to Ascension Island in an Airbus A400M Atlas, and stopped to refuel halfway. They then had to wait on the island for a few days while they waited for a recovery mission back to the UK.
The 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team's commander said the troops would have immediately had to turn straight into the wind as soon as they jumped, to avoid the strong winds blowing them past the island and off into the Atlantic Ocean. The remote island also has a huge shield volcano reaching heights of 2,062 metres above sea level and is still considered to be active, following an underwater eruption in 2004.
Once through the cloud, the troops faced another challenge, as the drop zone was a golf course covered in rocks.
In total, six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade, had to be airdropped onto the island in the South Atlantic to treat the British citizen, as the territory does not have an airstrip Medical supplies were airdropped onto the remote British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Locals watched from the ground as military personnel parachuted onto the island for the first time in history Cruise ship MV Hondius arriving at the port of Granadilla de Abona after being affected by a hantavirus outbreak, in Tenerife, on Sunday Now safely on the island after a successful descent, they are tasked with treating a patient suspected of being infected with the deadly hantavirus.
Tristan da Cunha has a population of just 221 and has just two doctors and four nurses working at its only hospital. Oxygen supplies and medical aid were also airdropped from the plane onto the island, which is normally only accessible by boat.
Read More How troops parachuted on to island with no airstrip and a volcano to treat Brit with rat virus The mission marks the first time that military personnel and medical supplies have been delivered to the island by parachute. An RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, supported by an RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha.
Brigadier Ed Cartwright, the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said there was '7,000 miles and about 56 hours' between help being requested and 'having those parachutists and those medical stores on the ground'. He told Sky News: 'No air strip, high winds, very difficult to reach, and over a week for a boat, and the patient, as I understand, was on oxygen, and that oxygen supply was running out – so we had very few options.
'I think the soldiers will have had a great time, but it's pretty risky. 'Parachuting has some inherent dangers. The winds were reasonably high.
'The parachuters – I've spoken to them – they described it to me as a"pretty tasty jump". 'They would have got out of the aircraft, had to turn straight into wind to avoid being pushed past the island and into the Atlantic, and then had a very difficult descent down through the cloud and then on to the drop zone, which was a golf course covered in rocks.
' The Army commander said there is a 'plan to get them back'. The Ministry of Defence said it was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the safety of 'all members of the British family' is the top priority.
She said: 'We will continue to work closely with international authorities and the Tristan da Cunha administration, keeping those affected informed and ensuring the right support is in place in the UK and across the overseas territories.
' On Saturday, three additional medical staff also arrived on the British overseas territory of St Helena, another remote island in the Atlantic Ocean. The MV Hondius made a stop off in St Helena on April 24 following the death of a Dutch man onboard. The island's government announced that an infection prevention and control specialist and two laboratory scientists had been deployed to the island along with two members of the Ministry of Defence.
In a statement, the government of St Helena said: 'The arrival of additional personnel and equipment on St Helena does not change the current position.
'It is not a cause for concern but a matter of reassurance. There are no symptomatic individuals on the island and no suspected cases.
'We still consider the risk to the wider community to be very low. 'As we have stated throughout, we continue to plan with an abundance of caution given the potential medical consequences, should a case be confirmed.
' Meanwhile, 20 Brits have begun a 45-day period of self-isolation in the UK after being evacuated from a cruise ship hit by hantavirus. The group are isolating at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside after their chartered flight from Tenerife landed at Manchester Airport on Sunday. They will stay there for 72 hours, before being asked to self-isolate for a further 42 days at home.
The chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency said all the evacuees are 'healthy and asymptomatic'. So far, three people have died after the virus broke out on MV Hondius, two of which were confirmed to have hantavirus. Two British nationals are confirmed to have the virus and are being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.
British Army Tristan Da Cunha South Atlantic Ocean Remote Island Remote Community Parachute Jump Hantavirus Victim Aid Mission Rook Virus Volunteer Army Nurse Tasked With Treating Remote Island Chagos Archipelago Hospitals SCAMS
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