A hiker was trapped under a 5-tonne boulder on a California cliff for seven hours last week until a volunteer search team freed him in a daring early morning rescue.
The unidentified man’s foot got stuck under a rock in an accident while he was hiking in the Inyo Mountains on Tuesday afternoon, according to Inyo County Search & Rescue — which was called to respond.
Nine volunteer crews went out to the stranded hikers below Santa Rita Flats via helicopter and four-wheel-drive vehicles, arriving after dark, rescuers said.
They found the hiker “extremely ill with his left leg wedged under a boulder on a steep hillside.”
They estimate the rock that crushed his leg weighed between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds, Inyo County Search & Rescue said.
Search and rescue crews estimate the rock that crushed his leg weighed between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds. Inyo County Search & Rescue
Rescuers devised a “system of ropes, pulleys and leverage” to move the giant rock just enough to free the man’s legs. They then assessed his crushed leg and stabilized the injury until medical personnel arrived via helicopter.
“Due to the seriousness of the pedestrian’s injuries and the difficulty of the terrain, it was decided to evacuate the pedestrian even in the dark using a helicopter from US Naval Air Station Lemoore,” Inyo County Search & Rescue said.
The helicopter was unable to land due to the hilly terrain until a US Navy medic descended on the injured pedestrian and both were lifted into the aircraft.
The pedestrian was flown to a hospital in Fresno for treatment after midnight.
The hiker was trapped, with his feet stuck under rocks for seven hours. Inyo County Search & Rescue
Inyo County Search & Rescue crews came out of the mountains and signed the agreement at 4 a.m
The team said the difficult mission included several challenges along the way including “coordinating multiple agencies and resources; accessing an accident scene in steep and loose rocky terrain; using limited resources to move large boulders; managing critically injured patients for several hours while waiting for helicopter removal; assisting in the helicopter lift at night; all in the cold December darkness.”
The nonprofit did not provide an update on the pedestrian’s condition.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
