Prince Charles rescues mountain biker

LONDON: Prince Charles has rescued a British motorcyclist injured in an accident on a mountain road to Queen's Balmoral estate.

The Prince of Wales, who is on holiday at Balmoral, was driving a Land Rover when he spotted 52-year-old Hugh Simpson who had fallen off his motorbike seconds earlier and plunged down a 15-ft embankment, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Charles and his Scotland Yard protection officers in a following vehicle stopped and hurried to help Simpson, who ended up only a few feet short of a fast-flowing river. The royal party gave him first aid before he was rushed to a hospital in Dundee where he had surgery on a shattered wrist.

"I cannot thank Prince Charles and his bodyguards enough. I came around a corner and hit a patch of gravel. I had just about regained control when I ran out of road and hit a grass verge.

"I woke up lying face down with the bike beside me. I knew my wrist was smashed and was relieved when the Prince's men turned up. They were first aid experts and had all the medical kit required in their Land Rover.

"They had oxygen and splints and a neck kit they put around me. They made me feel quite comfortable very quickly. They even phoned the hospital to inquire how I was later on," Simpson, a salesman, was quoted as saying.