Tributes have been paid to a man who died after falling off a cliff while trying to rescue a sheep in the Point area of Lewis.
Donald Macdonald of Knock was seriously injured after apparently slipping on the wet surface and falling down a ravine in the adjacent village of Swordale on Monday afternoon.
It appears the 48-
He was airlifted to the Stornoway hospital by the coastguard helicopter but died on Monday evening.
Mr Macdonald was well liked in the community. He had returned home from the mainland to care for his infirm mother some years ago.
A local said the community was devastated.
A villager said: “This is the biggest tragedy to affect the village for many years.
He is the youngest of the family and came home to look after his mother.
“He was so, so good to her. He was caring for her admirably.”
Police and coastguards were summoned to the accident around 3.40pm on Monday.
Northern Constabulary said the member of the public raised the alarm by calling 999.
The man is believed to have fallen around 70 feet onto a small shingle cove. His had difficulty in breathing and had sustained severe head injuries.
Off the shore, the Stornoway lifeboat launched its inflatable boat to get two RNLI crew ashore.
In the failing light, they joined the helicopter winchman in assisting the casualty and getting him in a stretcher.
The helicopter directed its search light to help illuminate the bottom of the gully
Mr Macdonald was winched up from the shore and taken onboard the aircraft which flew directly to the hospital.
A police spokesman said: “The Coastguard helicopter airlifted a 48 year old male to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway where he later died from his injuries.
“Police are carrying out an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
