Lead climber fell and badly injured
By Hal Fulkman
It was 10 or
15 minutes to Loma Linda E.R., air time, and as I
watched Lunch Rock get smaller and smaller below
us it seemed incredible that in 15 minutes a
mission would be over that everyone expected to
last three to four hours longer.
Four and one
half hours earlier I was sitting in the backyard
with my wife enjoying a Saturday afternoon when
the all to familiar screech came from my pager.
After contacting the number that was called out
on the pager, I was informed that a climber had
fallen on Tahquitz Rock and was badly injured. I
left within 10 minutes of the first pager call,
and wasted no time no time in getting to Humber
Park, our designated rendezvous.
When I arrived I met the sheriff's
deputy, and the informant, and soon learned that
the injured climber was about one pitch up on a
route called 'Super Pooper.' From the description
of his injuries we didn't have any time to lose.
I had just finished throwing in some extra first
aid equipment into my pack when John Dew, the
second RMRU member arrived, grabbed his pack and
within a few minutes we were on the trail which
leads to the base of Tahquitz Rock. After about
35 minutes we were at the base of the rock, where
the route begins. By this time more team members
had arrived and were on the trail, so John stayed
there to guide the rest of the team to our
position, while I climbed up to where the climber
had fallen.
When I reached
the climber I saw he was being attended by his
climbing partner and by another climber who had
been soloing. All three men were glad to see me.
While I was examining him, he told me his name
was Matthew and with the help of his friend, he
explained what had happened.
Matthew was
leading the climb and was in a very difficult
position trying to get an anchor in a large
crack. Matthew said he made four attempts to
insert the anchor and didn't remember much after
that, except falling backwards and seeing his
partner on the way down. When he hit the rocks
below, he landed on his right side. His upper
torso went into a crevice and saved his head from
a direct impact.
After
surveying Matthew, I determined that he had a
broken jaw, fractured right wrist, a concussion,
and numerous abrasions and contusions.
Administering first aid was very difficult
because of the small ledge that Matthew was
laying on and in order to move around I had to
tie into a safety line.
Within a short period of time
additional team members were on the scene rigging
lines to raise Matthew to a different ledge where
it was possible to lower him all the way to the
bottom. Because of numerous fires in Southern
California that required the use of helicopters,
we received the disappointing news that no
helicopters were available to evacuate Matthew.
One half of
the way down the rock we received a message by
radio that Don Landells was about 10 minutes away
with his jet Ranger, and would try a pick up on
Lunch Rock. After getting Matthew to the bottom,
we transported him to Lunch Rock. Don flew in and
made a one runner landing nothing short of
spectacular and within a few minutes Matthew and
I were loaded and on our way to Loma Linda.
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