Robin Cook dies after mountain collapse
Former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook died in hospital today after collapsing while hillwalking in Scotland.
Mr Cook, 59, was with his second wife Gaynor on Ben Stack in Sutherland when he took ill at 2.23pm, Northern Constabulary said.
The Livingston MP, who lived in Edinburgh, was near the summit of the 2,365ft mountain.
He was airlifted by a Coastguard helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where he died.
Mr Cook had apparently collapsed with a suspected heart attack on the mountainside while out walking during his summer holidays.
He was also reported to have seriously injured himself in a fall after his collapse.
The father-of-two grown up sons was on the mountain for nearly half an hour before rescue services reached him.
Then, guided by medical experts via telephone, they battled to revive him using cardio pulmonary resuscitation equipment, before he was airlifted by helicopter to hospital in Inverness.
Mr Cook arrived at hospital at 4pm – some 90 minutes after his collapse and was declared dead five minutes later, said a spokesman for NHS Highland.
But it was more than three hours later before police confirmed his death.
A police spokesman added: “As is normal in such circumstances, a report will be prepared for the Procurator Fiscal.
