Crawling down the slope: how an injured tourist in White Mountains made his way to help
The incident occurred on October 22 at Mount Moriah in White Mountains. The 42-year-old Thomas McGrimley from Connecticut and three friends were on the first day of a planned three-day hike. Near the summit, the man slipped on a steep section of exposed rock and injured his lower leg to the point where he could no longer walk on it.
Around 2:00 PM, the group called emergency services, about four miles from the nearest parking lot. Soon, another hiker passed by the group, administered first aid, put a splint on the injured limb, and stayed to support the group. Rather than wait for help in one place, McGrimley decided to move towards the group: he began to slowly descend Carter-Moriah Trail crawling and on his back, thus overcoming more than a kilometer of mountainous terrain.
At 6:15 p.m., the first rescuers met the victim on the trail. The large-scale operation involved environmental protection officers and 24 volunteers from search and rescue units. The specialists fixed the injured leg with a vacuum tire, placed the tourist in a special rescue stretcher and began a difficult, many-hour transportation up a steep, rocky slope.
The descent to the base was not completed until 10:55 p.m. — nearly nine hours after the first call for help. The ambulance crew examined the man in the parking lot and transported him to a local hospital.
Source: Injured Hiker Crawls Down Mountain as 24 Rescue Volunteers Rush to Reach Him - AOL.com
Context
According to New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the group set out on the route prepared and had a full set of equipment and provisions for three days. The supply of necessary items turned out to be critically important, as search and rescue operations in this mountain range usually stretch over kilometers of difficult terrain and require a long time.