SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN CLARK COUNTY, WASHINGTON, an ATV rider suffered a serious accident in a  state forest recreation area.

The 24-yr.-old man from Vancouver was riding along one of the many forest trails when he somehow went off the road and over a steep embankment.  It was estimated that he went about 50 ft. into the air over the chasm.  After crash-landing he was badly hurt with hip and back injuries, but nobody in his riding party knew that he had crashed.

Fortunately he had his cell phone with him, but he was in a remote area where cell service is next to non-existent.  But in his case Providence was on his side because when he tried to call the 911 center, somebody answered.  By the slimmest of chances, he got through.  But he couldn’t tell them exactly where he was other than the Jones Creek Recreation Area.

The East County Fire and Rescue Department was dispatched to the call with not much information to go on other than the knowledge that the man was still alive somewhere in the large forest.  A response of seven firefighters plus an ambulance with two paramedics had the task of finding him.  Since the victim was still connected on the phone, Capt. Mike Carnes decided to try out a revised version of the “hot-and-cold” game.

Riding up and down the trails in the squad truck with the siren sounding, the victim was able to relay when he could hear them and if they were getting closer or going away.  Within a short while they found him lying at the bottom of the embankment and completely out of sight from the roadways.  Within an hour he was packed up and in a rescue helicopter where he was taken to the Vancouver hospital in serious condition.  Without the cellphone and the good fortune of the freak connection, he would likely have never been found.

The complete story is in The Columbian HERE.

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