Watch heartstopping video of blind hiker and his dog’s aerial rescue after days lost in wilderness in scorching heat
FOOTAGE of the heartstopping moment a blind hiker and his guide dog were rescued after days of hiking in the scorching heat has been released.
The 55-year-old and his dog were hiking with a friend in Oregon last month when they became stranded.
On July 3, the unidentified hiker and his friend took to the Rogue River Trail but it was not until July 8, that the US Coast Guard Pacific Northwest could rescue the man and his dog.
When the hiker’s friend noticed signs of heat exhaustion on July 6, he tried to call the emergency services for help but a lack of cell service meant he was forced to find another way.
Leaving the hiker and his dog with food and water, the friend walked to Gold Beach to call 911 from there.
However, despite best efforts, help could not arrive immediately given the remote location of the area where the blind hiker was waiting.
In the early hours of July 8, a ranger from the Bureau of Land Management and two deputies from the Josephine County Sherrif’s Office set off to find the hiker.
He was located around 9 am with his dog after the rescue team had hiked around six miles.
The Coast Guard was then requested to come up with a plan to get the hiker and his dog to safety.
Footage of the rescue mission was shared on X by the US Coast Guard.
The helicopter can be seen hovering over the rocky land as a crew member is winched down followed by a basket to put the man and his dog in.
The pair are then seen being winched back up with the dog sitting between its owner’s legs, frantically looking around as they enter the aircraft.
Once safely inside, the Coast Guard crewmember was pulled up carrying the hiker’s backpack.
“The man could not walk and the terrain was too rough for a wheel litter.” USCG Pacific Northwest said of the rescue.
“#USCG crew was vectored in, rescue swimmer deployed, the man and his dog were hoisted, and were taken to EMS at Grants Pass Airport.”
Despite the severity of the situation, there was a rather heartwarming part of the rescue.
If he had tried to walk out, you know, a day or so later, after his friend left, we may not have found him.
Commander Jay Kircher
“When the basket came up to the cabin, our flight mechanic, Tim, swung the basket over toward me, and I saw this dog’s head sticking out of it,” Commander Jay Kircher, the pilot in command of the rescue, told Fox affiliate KPTV.
“And it was just kind of perking up a little bit. I’m not used to seeing animals coming up when we do our hoist operations.”
Over the days the experienced hiker and his friend started exploring the trail, the region saw temperatures of over 100 degrees.
However, they were praised by the rescue team for doing the right thing when they ran into trouble.
“I think, importantly, he did the exact correct thing, which was to stay put and to stick with the plan that he came up with with his friend,” Kircher said.
“If he had tried to walk out, you know, a day or so later, after his friend left, we may not have found him.”
After the man was rescued, the Coast Guard shared a photograph of the man and his guide dog both looking well alongside the crew.
MIRACLE FIND
Meanwhile, officials in Idaho were called out last week after an 89-year-old hiker went missing for 10 days.
Bing Olbum set off on the Hunter Creek Trailhead on August 1 with five days’ worth of supplies but he never showed up at the end point in the McDonald Creek area, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office in Central Idaho said.
The senior was reported missing on August 7 and was miraculously found alive on August 10 which the Sheriff’s Office said was an “extraordinary outcome.”
He was taken home safely around 3 am on August 11 after locals on horseback found his camp.
Olbum’s daughter revealed on Facebook that her father was ‘dehydrated but alive and well” though it is not known how he went off course in the Salmon-Challis National Forest spreading over four million acres.
“Bing’s will to survive has resulted in an unbelievably good ending to this incident,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
“We hope that his recovery is swift, and he will be enjoying time with his family and friends.”
“The odds of anybody surviving that period of time out in the wilderness area is very unlikely,” Custer County Search and Rescue Coordinator Lincoln Zollinger told East Idaho News.
The coordinator revealed that Olbum survived in the wilderness on beef jerky, salted nuts, and iodine tablets to purify water.