Mike Kealy - Death

Death

He died of hypothermia in February 1979 on a training exercise in the Brecon Beacons in deteriorating weather conditions. He was found alive (but in poor condition) by a two-man search party—one of whom stayed with him and attempted to keep him warm. It was later acknowledged by the Coroner that one of the major contributory factors in his death was the delay in retrieving him from the hillside—a delay of some 19 hours due to inclement weather. Another factor was that Kealy had not packed cold weather gear, instead carrying bricks in his Bergen pack to up its weight to 50 pounds. When offered warm clothing by the search party, he refused - and even threw a warm blanket away. A combination of Kealy's bloody-minded stubbornness and the effects of hypothermia clouding his judgement seems to have been the tipping point.

As a direct result of this and similar incidents SAS personnel are now only allowed to carry useful items on training exercises.