For the boy and the girl it seemed like a good day to trek in Rila, one of Bulgaria’s most beautiful mountains. The weather was nice, and they were fit for the climb up to breath-taking views.

They went higher and higher on a path that grew narrower and steeper. But just as they neared the peak, the girl lost balance, slipped and fell in a gully. Her leg snapped broken. They were stuck.

The boy called the Mountain Rescue Service, but before he could explain where they were, the battery of his mobile died. To make things worse, the weather changed. Their light clothes were no match for the cold rain, soon to turn into snow.

Down in the Mountain Rescue cabin the call triggered a complex live-saving operation. The rescuers on duty didn’t know the exact location of the couple and weather was worsening by the minute. But they knew that up there were people in dire straits, bracing for a storm and a very cold night. Three teams were assembled to comb the areas where the couple was most likely to be.

The team leader faced a tough call – he knew rescuers would be risking their own lives in a quest that the storm was making more and more hopeless. It is in moments like this when experience underpins judgement. He took the risk; the three teams kept searching.

And they found the couple – freezing, the girl – in pain, but alive. I can only imagine how the two must have felt when they saw salvation coming their way in bulky red jackets.

It was Kiril Russev, the team leader, who told me this story. I met him when I took my team from Brussels to Rila to train with the Bulgarian Mountain Rescue Service and learn more about their work in crisis situations. It was a great experience – rescuers showed us how hard they train for any emergency scenario. < They “rescued” us – from a lift and from the rocks high above a river. What was particularly impressive was how close-knit their team is – after all, up there in the mountain, they save lives in dangerous conditions, so they have to trust each other with their own lives as well.

There are 34 teams across Bulgaria’s mountains, bringing together nearly 600 men and women and 15 rescue dogs. Thanks to them, hundreds of tourists in the mountains – like the couple from my story – receive help every year. I am proud to have met some of the rescuers and for my team to be a test case for their superb skills. We returned to Brussels with great memories and a bit of their camaraderie into the work we do – to bring out the best of Europe when disaster or conflict strike somewhere around the world.

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Tags: Bulgaria, Civil Protection, crisis response, mountain rescue, mountains