Hiker knocked out in French Pyrenees climbing accident saved by call from boss

The man fell down a mountainside while climbing near Campan, a commune in the Occitanie region of southwest France. Photo / Getty Images

The life of young hiker knocked unconscious in a climbing accident in the French Pyrenees was reportedly saved thanks to a call from his irate boss after he failed to turn up to work.

The Belgian, 22, who has not been named, fell about 40 metres down a mountainside while climbing near Campan, a commune in the Occitanie region of southwest France, on Tuesday.

He lay overnight, unconscious, at the bottom of the cliff where he had fallen.

According to local media, the following morning he received a phone call at about 8am from his boss, who wanted to know why he was not in the office.

The sound of the phone caused the hiker to come around. He then told his boss he had fallen off a cliff.

Once his employer “realised the seriousness of the situation, he told him to ring the emergency services with his mobile phone, knowing that we could very probably locate him that way”, a spokesman for the mountain rescue service told the local newspaper La Dépêche.

“He was able to tell us his first and last name, but we were forced to geolocate him in order to know where he was exactly.”

The fall could have been fatal - when a rescue team finally reached the hiker, he was in a state of advanced hypothermia and suffering from multiple fractures.

The dazed victim was taken by helicopter to the Pau hospital. Doctors said he is now out of danger.

“If his employer hadn’t called, the outcome would have in all likelihood been fatal for the victim,” one mountain rescuer told La Dépêche.