Sarah Anderson Obituary, Death – The Team is saddened to inform you of the demise of one of our long-serving former members, Sarah Anderson. It is with a heavy heart that we make this announcement. In 1995, Sarah became a member of the search and rescue team, and she quickly became an experienced and valuable team member. Sarah was an addition to the squad due to her high fitness, great navigational skills, and good medical capabilities.
Sarah was given the “sartorial elegance” prize at the team Christmas party when we presented our “Rocks Off” awards. This was primarily due to the wallet that was crammed in the rear pocket of her Ron Hill tights, which gave the appearance of a large wart. Sarah has always been more concerned with efficiency than she has been with elegance.
She made the most of the opportunities presented by the team travels to Scotland, going in the winter to hone her skills on snow and ice and traveling in the early summer to Assynt and Sutherland to experience the secluded hills and breathtaking shoreline there. Her love of wilderness and isolated areas blossomed as a direct result of this experience. S
he was one of a small group of team members who traveled to the Swiss Alps for a week in 2011, during which time her command of the German language proved to be an invaluable asset. She left the team in 2012 to pursue other options, and eventually she started her own gardening business. However, she stayed in touch with a number of team members and continued to walk, backpack, and enjoy the outdoors after she left the team.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in the latter part of 2021, the disease had sadly already advanced to her liver when she was discharged from the Christie in February 2022, having undergone chemotherapy, with just a limited outlook for her remaining time on earth. She fought her way back to fitness with the normal doggedness that characterizes her, getting back to hillwalking and completing a zipwire in North Wales with her partner during the summer, as well as going on a variety of trips for vacations in the hills and on the coasts. She is now in better shape than she was before.