Fayetteville, WV (WOAY) A multi-agency rescue effort helped save an injured hiker in Fayette County on Friday, May 29.
The Fayetteville Fire Department says crews were called around 11:30 a.m. after a 23-year-old man suffered a broken leg while climbing in the Fern Creek area near the New River.
Initial reports placed the victim near Miller’s Folly Rapid, but rescuers later determined he was located between a quarter and a half mile up a steep section of Fern Creek.
As crews reached the patient, additional manpower was requested, bringing in members of the Fayette County Vertical Rescue Team, National Park Service personnel, and emergency responders from several departments across the county.
Rescuers used specialized rope systems to lower the patient to the railroad tracks, where he was transported by a CSX high-railer to a waiting ambulance at Fayette Station.
Officials say the rescue took about three hours from the initial call to the patient’s transfer to medical personnel.
The Fayetteville Fire Department is thanking CSX for halting rail traffic during the operation, as well as the many agencies and medical crews who assisted in the rescue.
