April 28, 2012
By David Krough, KQW.com
ESTACADA – A hunter and his two dogs were taken to safety during
a thunderstorm after falling down a slope along the Clackamas River
Thursday.
Clackamas County rescuers found 48-year-old Jeff Gracey had
fallen thousands of feet down a slope several miles up from the
Roaring River campground after Gracey's son called 911.
Paramedics were able to hike down and assess his injuries, which
were not life-threatening, but he was unable to get himself back up
to the trail.
Deputies said the Gracey had a well-constructed shelter, camp
supplies and “had done everything right.”
An Oregon Army National Guard medevac Black-hawk was called in
and a para-rescue jumper was able to lift Gracey to safety as rains
and lightning moved in, rescuers said.
Another rescue team was
able to hiked 2,000 vertical feet back up to the trail with the his
two dogs.
"This was one of those calls which looked straightforward at
first," Reach And Treat paramedic Robert Aberle said. "It quickly
escalated to something else -- a call where we didn't know where the
patient was at. We're just really thankful that we were able to
airlift the patient out. It would have been an extremely difficult
evacuation to move him back up the hillside we were on."
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