FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Emergency responders from multiple agencies rescued a 23-year-old individual who suffered a broken leg in the New River Gorge on Saturday.
According to the Fayetteville Fire Department, crews were notified by the National Park Service at approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 30 requesting assistance with an injured person near Millers Folly Rapid, about a mile upstream from Fayette Station Road on the north side of the New River.
Fayetteville firefighters requested additional manpower from Ansted Volunteer Fire Department Station 11 and Nuttall Volunteer Fire Department Station 17.
After arriving in the area, responders determined the injured individual was part of a group climbing up Fern Creek from the railroad tracks and was located between a quarter-mile and a half-mile up an extremely steep section of terrain.
National Park Service personnel, firefighters from Stations 3 and 11, and a Jan-Care Ambulance medic reached the patient and determined additional personnel would be needed to complete the rescue.
The Fayette County Vertical Rescue Team was then requested, bringing additional responders from Ansted, Oak Hill and Mount Hope to the Fern Creek and Fayette Station area. Additional National Park Service personnel and firefighters also responded to the top of Fern Creek.
Rescuers used high-line rope systems to lower the patient down the steep terrain to the railroad tracks. The patient was then transported by a CSX high-railer vehicle to a waiting Jan-Care ambulance at Fayette Station.
The Fayetteville Fire Department thanked CSX for stopping rail traffic during the rescue and providing the high-railer vehicle to transport personnel, equipment and the injured patient.
The department also thanked the responding agencies, members of the county rope rescue team and medical personnel who assisted during the operation.
Officials said approximately three hours elapsed from the initial emergency notification until the patient was placed in the ambulance for transport to further medical care.
