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[TonyGosling]

[TonyGosling]

09Aug05 - Gaynor's grief after Cook's mountain fall death

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=358443

Tragic: Gaynor had to walk down mountain as Cook was airlifted

The widow of former minister Robin Cook is said to be shattered by his sudden death on Saturday. Gaynor Cook desperately tried to resuscitate her husband when he collapsed and fell while walking in the Scottish mountains.
Tributes poured in for Mr Cook, one of the towering figures of New Labour, after he collapsed and died while hill-walking with his wife Gaynor yesterday.
A frantic Gaynor spent more than 40 minutes trying to resuscitate her husband after calling for help from a fellow walker who dialled 999 on his mobile. Paramedics then instructed them on how to give Mr Cook, 59, emergency resuscitation as they waited for a Coastguard helicopter to arrive.
Gaynor was then left to make her own way down the mountain as her husband was airlifted to hospital in Inverness.
Medics continued to try to revive him during the hour-long flight, and at the hospital another 'crash team' was waiting on the tarmac to take over.
However, a spokesman confirmed Mr Cook was pronounced dead at 4.05pm, barely ten minutes after his arrival.
Mr Cook's ex-wife Margaret said last night she felt the 'most enormous sympathy' for the woman who was once her most bitter rival.
Mrs Cook, said the two women have set aside their differences. She added that her two grown-up sons with Mr Cook were 'gutted'.
Arriving under police escort in a silver Chrysler vehicle just after 1.15pm, Gaynor Cook was escorted into the mortuary at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by two police officers and Jim Devine, who was her late husband's election agent.
The Labour MP had collapsed while fell-walking on 2,365ft Ben Stack in north-west Sutherland. Mr Cook, who had suffered blood pressure and heart problems, may have broken his neck as he fell.
Fell down ridge
The alarm was raised at 2.20pm when the ambulance service received the 999 call.
The call was passed to Northern Constabulary at 2.23pm and then when it was realised an airlift was urgently required the call was passed to the air rescue co-ordination centre at RAF Kinloss.
At 2.34pm they scrambled a Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway on the Western Isles which was airborne just six minutes later.
By 3.01pm the helicopter was at the scene and winchman George Chrossan was lowered down to help gather Mr Cook and winch him up into the helicopter from a ledge.
The helicopter swept into Inverness's Raigmore Hospital at 3.57pm, an hour-and-a-half after the first emergency call.
Coastguard George Chrossan, who had to be winched down from the rescue helicopter, said Mrs Cook told him he had stopped breathing about 40 minutes beforehand.
"Mr Cook fell about 8ft down a ridge when he collapsed on to rocky terrain," he told the Scottish Mail on Sunday.
The rescue was co-ordinated by the RAF air rescue centre at Kinloss. A spokesman there said conditions were clear at the time.
He added: "The injured man was uplifted by helicopter close to the summit. That part of Ben Stack is very steep, monster steep and very rocky. He was taken on board and flown directly to Raigmore hospital."
Remote
The mountain is in one of Scotland's most remote Highland areas, about 70 miles northeast of Inverness on the Duke of Westminster's Reay estate.
It is reached by car along a 37-mile single track road from Lairg towards Laxford Bridge to the closest village, Achfray, at the head of Loch More.
Last night Mr Cook's first wife Margaret was visibly upset and shaken as she said: "It has all been quite unexpected. Everything is quite fluid, and family and friends seem to be gathering in Edinburgh. I am waiting for my sons to come home."
It is thought the couple's younger son, Peter, was on an Outward Bound course in England and may not yet have been informed about the tragedy. The couple's elder son, Christopher, 31, was travelling north from his home in Scotland.
Tributes
Meanwhile tributes poured in for a politician who rose to prominence with his searing demolition of the Tory Government over the arms-to-Iraq affair and was latterly known as the most eloquent critic of the war in Iraq.
Tony Blair said: "Robin was an outstanding, extraordinary talent - brilliant, incisive in debate, of incredible skill and persuasive power.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Gaynor and all Robin's family. This news will be received with immense sadness, not just in Britain but in many parts of the world."
It was also confirmed that if, as expected, Gordon Brown takes over as Prime Minister, Mr Cook would have been given a 'significant' post in the Government.
Mr Cook, who spent more than 20 years on Labour's front bench before his resignation from the Cabinet over Iraq, is not known to have been an experienced climber, though he was considered fit and active and fond of the outdoors.
His health has been generally good in recent years but in his memoirs - Robin Cook: The Point Of Departure - he described fainting at a restaurant in Covent Garden in July 2002. He was taken to hospital and kept in overnight and was reassured that it was due to 'medication to bring down blood pressure'.
Mr Cook had taken the Leathad na Stioma fell-walking route to the peak of Ben Stack. All other routes are for experienced climbers.
'Hard pull to end the climb'
According to local guides, the mountain can easily be climbed in half a day but they warn of a couple of ridges to be negotiated near and at the top. It is very steep in places and scrambling up rocky stretches is required which rules it out for a family walk.
One walker said: "There are sections that feel a little bit exposed and the ridge at the summit could test the nerve of the inexperienced walker, particularly in a strong wind.
"The start of the walk can be wet and boggy but quickly becomes rocky.
"Once you are up the main part of the mountain you are faced with a very steep, grassy cone leading to the summit. It's a hard pull to end the climb but the views are stunning over the surrounding area and lochs."
Ray Fish, of the Rhiconich Hotel, where many of the walkers stay, has been climbing in the area for 30 years. He said: "I don't think I've ever heard of a fatality or serious accident on Ben Stack.
"There's no problem so long as care is taken. The usual way is to go up from the road from the north side, but just before the summit it is quite exposed.
"It was a really bright day and not very windy, but if you are not careful it can be dangerous and lead to falls of several hundred feet."
Three years ago it was claimed Ben Stack, described as 'gothically pointy' and one of Scotland's finest mountains, inspired JRR Tolkien when creating his Middle Earth fantasy world.
Split from first wife
During Mr Cook's time in Government, his achievements were overshadowed by the domestic problems that dogged him until his unexpected demotion from the Foreign Office in 2001.
He was widely respected for his intellect and commitment to the ideals of Scottish socialism, but his personal reputation was severely damaged by the circumstances of his split from his first wife Margaret.
He ended the couple's marriage in a waiting room at Heathrow airport after learning that a tabloid newspaper was planning to reveal his affair with Gaynor Regan, his then Commons secretary.
He later married Gaynor in a secret ceremony and, after the initial furore died down, the couple enjoyed a happy life as he devoted himself once again to his politics. He quit as Leader of the Commons in 2003 in protest at the looming war in Iraq.

[Redfive]

Has Gaynor ever spoken publically about Robins death,or is the "official line" still that she is too upset?