61-year-old man survives being pinned down by 700-pound boulder for 3 hours in Alaska creek
A 61-year-old Alaska man is expected to make a full recovery after he ended up being pinned down by a 700-pound boulder while lying on his stomach in an Alaska creek, authorities said.
The incident occurred last Saturday just before noon when the Seward Fire Department was contacted for a rescue in the Fourth of July Creek to reports of a “61-year-old male pinned by a boulder in the creek,” according to a statement from the Seward Fire Department.
“The patient was found lying in the creek on his stomach with an approximately 700 lb. boulder on top of him with his spouse holding his head out of water,” authorities said. “The patient was hypothermic and in and out of consciousness.”
Officials did not say how the boulder came to be on top of him or why it ended up pinning him down in the creek in the first place.
Seward Fire and Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corp responded and requested assistance from Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department, according to the Seward Fire Department, and responded to the scene on foot, by ATV and helicopter.
“One of Bear Creek FD Volunteer’s works for Seward Helicopter Tours and heard the call while working and he and a pilot volunteered to respond to the scene and pick up six firefighters via helicopter and transport them to the patient, thus cutting down 45 minutes of travel time,” officials said. “The patient was in a boulder field and the helicopter could only hover while firefighters had to jump from the helicopter to the ground as the helicopter could not land safely.”
Crews used air bags, ropes and “brute force” to lift the boulder off the patient and pull him to safety, authorities said.
“Once out of the water, the crew re-warmed the patient, and he became more alert, and his vitals improved,” Seward Fire Department said.
Officials determined there was not an effective or safe manner to bring the patient down the canyon, so they contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center for assistance and they were able to hoist the man out of the canyon and take him to the ambulance that was waiting nearby.
The 61-year-old man was subsequently taken to Seward Providence Hospital and authorities said he is expected to make a full recovery with no life-threatening injuries noted.
“It is no doubt that without the help from Seward Helicopter Tours this incident could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome,” said the Seward Fire Department. “It is community members and businesses that we work so well with that make our jobs easier and more productive.”
