Female solo adventurer has to be rescued 13 days into North Pole mission

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Hannah McKeand, 34, was hoping to become the first woman to reach the North Pole solo when she fell from a block of ice just two weeks into her journey.

Although not life threatening, she was in considerable pain and unable to move.

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Hannah McKeand had to be rescued two weeks into her North Pole journey due to serious injuries after falling from a block of ice

She was picked up early yesterday morning by a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter and flown to Alert, a remote Canadian government station. From there she was due to be flown onto Resolute Bay today and then to Ottawato receive medical attention.

The disaster happened last Thursday when she climbed onto a pile of ice blocks to scout the view ahead.

Steve Jones, her operations manager said: "There was a crack in the ice but there was no hint it was a dangerous situation.

"Without warning the snow gave way and Hannah fell sideways into a hole eight feet deep. In the process she wrenched her left leg, hurt her lower back and left shoulder." McKeand then struggled for an hour to extricate herself and make herself safe in a tent.

Clive Allen, her spokesman in the UK, said she decided to sleep on it and see how she felt in the morning but it was apparent her injuries were worse than she realised and she accepted her dream was over.

"She called me yesterday. She's in fine spirits. But she needs a trip to hospital to see what she's done to herself," he said.

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Hannah at the South Pole where she set the record for the fastest solo and unsupported trek

He added that rescuing her was logistically very difficult because no aeroplane – the usual form of pick-up – could land.

This is because the accident happened only 45 miles from the coastline, where the ice is much more broken up than at the Pole and not smooth enough to support a plane landing.

McKeand is considered one of the world's rising stars of polar travel.

In 2006, the 6ft 2ins woman broke the record – male or female – for the fastest solo ski trek to the South Pole in a time of 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes, amazingly after only recently taking up the sport. Until 2001 she was the marketing manager at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, Berkshire, with a passion for travelling in deserts.

If she had succeeded this expedition would have sealed her reputation.

The 480-mile trek from Canada to the North Pole has only been completed successfully - solo and unaided - by one person, Britain's Pen Hadow, in 2003.