Climber joins search for missing teen Jay Slater
By Danny Fullbrook, BBC News, Bedfordshire
Paul Arnott
An adventurer and mountaineer says “being a decent human” has motivated him to travel to Tenerife to help the search for missing teenager Jay Slater.
Paul Arnott, 29, from Flitwick in Bedfordshire, cancelled a charity fundraiser to fly to the island and join the search and rescue operation on Saturday.
The 19-year-old has not been heard from for nine days when he called one of his friends on the trip with him to say he was lost, his phone was running out of battery and he needed water.
Mr Arnott said: “I know these environments, I know how harsh they are and how scary they are without experience.”
“You have to be the best person you can be,” he added.
“I spend all my time in the mountains, I’ve assisted search and rescue in Scotland before, it’s what I do.”
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The climber says he has joined the search each day since arriving and will not leave until the teenager is found.
“Drones and helicopters are good but they don’t pick up everything,” he added.
“You’re going to be looking at the most hazardous areas such as ravines and areas [where] there’s potential for rock falls.”
PA Media
Mr Arnott was due to take part in a 500-mile fundraising walk for Scottish Mountain Rescue before he heard the call for help in the search.
When asked why he flew to the island to join the operation, he said: “It’s just being a decent human person, somebody needs help you go help them. I like to think somebody would do the same for me”.
“I do not cope well in hot countries, it makes me sick, but it’s got to be done.
“I’ll stay here until we find him.”
