Man suffers serious injuries in fall from rock cropping in southeast Union County
Published 8:00 pm Sunday, May 15, 2022
- The victim of a fall in southeastern Union County on Saturday, May 14, 2022, was transported to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, via a Life Flight helicopter. The patient was driven from the accident site to the helicopter by ambulance. The helicopter could not land at the accident location because of the rough terrain.
LA GRANDE — A 41-year-old La Grande man suffered serious injuries in a fall from a rock outcropping in southeast Union County this weekend.
The victim slipped and fell about 150 vertical feet from the rock outcropping, which was just off Merry-Go-Round Road, 6.5 miles southeast of Catherine Creek State Park, on Saturday, May 14, according to Union County Emergency Manager Nick Vora. The victim was later flown by a Life Flight Network helicopter to St. Alphonsus Medical Center, Boise. Vora said the patient is expected to recover from his injuries.
The man who fell was with a group of all-terrain vehicle riders who rode off Merry-Go-Round Road and then up to a viewpoint. There he got off his ATV and later fell off the outcropping.
The accident was called into Union County’s dispatch soon afterward at 4:41 p.m. Eight Union County Search and Rescue volunteers, Vora, Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen, three sheriff’s deputies, ambulances with the La Grande Fire and Union fire departments, a member of U.S. Forest Service law enforcement, and a Life Flight helicopter soon arrived to conduct the rescue.
First responders set up a low angle rope system that a Stokes litter basket was tied to. The man was placed in the basket and pulled up a steep 500-foot incline.
“It was the equivalent of pulling somebody up a ski slope,” Vora said.
Once up the slope the individual was transported in an ambulance to a Life Flight helicopter, a drive that took about 10 minutes. The helicopter pilot was not able to land closer to the accident scene because of the rugged terrain.
Vora said the rescue was successful due in large part to the assistance of volunteer first responders.
“If it had not been for their help we would not have had the same outcome in the same time period,” Vora said.
