Hiker rescued after falling 80 feet
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP, Lawrence County — A Slippery Rock University student — taking advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures and a sunny sky — was injured Sunday afternoon after she fell about 80 feet down a cliff at McConnells Mill State Park.
Volunteer firefighters donned climbing gear, reppelled down the vertical cliff and painstakingly hoisted the 21-year-old Pittsburgh woman back up in a rescue basket near Breakneck Falls.
She was flown by Stat Med-Evac helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh with an assortment of injuries but none were believed to be life-threatening.
She was conscious and alert, and even sharing laughs with members of her hiking party and other park-goers.
'It's a miracle'“I would definitely say it's a miracle,” said Blake Kelly, who was one of three friends, all SRU students, who were hiking together with the woman when she fell shortly after 3 p.m.Kelly, 20, of Allentown, blamed the fall on a “misstep.” The woman, who was wearing Nike running shoes, was at the top of the scenic waterfall when she slipped.“She slid about 15 feet onto a (rock) ledge and then lost her footing and tumbled the rest of the way,” said Brian Flores, assistant park manager. She landed in Cheeseman Run tributary below Breakneck Bridge.Two of her friends were close by and got to her quickly. Kelly was on a trail about 200 feet away and did not see or hear the fall. He realized what happened when he walked around a bend and saw one of the other friends.The friends talked to the woman to “keep her calm,” said Kelly, who also took her vital signs.“She had a cut on her head that was bleeding,” he said. She also complained of pain on the right side in the rib area.“She was having difficulty breathing,” he said, due to the apparent rib injury. Additionally, the woman had pain in her right leg.“And a lot of bumps and bruises,” said Bryan Moore, park ranger supervisor.While waiting for rescuers, the friends did their best to “keep things light,” Kelly said.Another hiking party, comprised of six students from Grove City College, saw the injured woman seated on a rock with her friends. She appeared “dazed” and was bleeding from the nose, according to the others. But they also heard her laughing at one point.Nate Smith of Albion, N.Y., one of the Grove City College students, also noticed someone had gotten her a space blanket to keep warm.Firefighters from Slippery Rock and Scott townships in Lawrence County and Portersville and Slippery Rock in Butler County were called for the not-so-simple rescue.20 firefighters helpedIt's an operation that Bill Lunn, chief of the Slippery Rock Township Volunteer Fire Department, has participated in numerous times over his 30-year firefighting career.“But it's still a challenge,” he acknowledged.“We used about 20 firefighters,” he said, “between the people rigging up (the rope line) at the top and the carrying out process,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts.”The rescue took about an hour.After repelling down, rescuers secured the woman in a Stokes basket, and eased her up the rocky and tree-laden cliff. From her appearance, she did not took too bad, Lunn said.But, he cautioned, she could have been in shock, which may have disguised the seriousness of the injuries.Lunn admitted hiking accidents cannot be avoided, but they can be reduced.His warning to park-goers: “Be careful and respect the park.”Moore noted that park officials are installing fencing around the area of Breakneck Bridge and adding more warning signs in hopes of preventing more accidents.He, too, offered his own words of wisdom: “Stay on the designated trails and be aware of the conditions.”
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