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Injured hiker rescued after nine-hour mission in Waterval Boven
A 62-year-old man who slipped and fell while on a hike, fracturing his leg just above the ankle, was rescued from a trail in the Waterval Boven area in a 9-hour search and rescue mission by SARZA and ER24 last night.
Six ER24 paramedics and nine SARZA (South African Search & Rescue) Lowveld members along with three local hikers were on the scene at 18:00 yesterday evening.
The initial hike to reach the injured man took 2 hours through some tough, steep terrain along mostly single track. Once there, the team made an assessment – with a suspected ankle fracture the call was made to immobilise the patient and walk him out in a stokes basket with his lower leg in a splint and a vacuum mattress to keep his body from moving too much.
With improvised rope pulleys and some serious manoeuvring the team managed to bring the patient down from the mountain by 03:00 this morning.
From there the patient was transported to Mediclinic Nelspruit for further care.
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