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Rock climber fell 30 feet
By
Bill Blaschko
The
tips of the helicopter rotor blades were slicing
through the night air, missing Tahquitz Rock by a
mere five feet, as Brian McGoldrick was drawn
into the Huey helicopter by a slim metal cable.
Looking below me, I could see the rock massif
tapering down to the scree slope three hundred
feet below. Brians head was covered with
blood. We pulled him from the cable into the
helicopter, but he was alert enough to help work
himself into the waiting litter. As I began
administering first aid, the U.S. Marine Corps
helicopter winch was used for two more quick
raises to bring Brians climbing partner,
Kevin Brennan, and U.S. Navy Corpsman Mike Anjola
up to the helicopter. Just as the helicopter run
to Loma Linda University Medical Center was
completed, the low fuel light began to flash.
The
incident had begun about four hours earlier when
a rock that Brian had a grip on gave way,
resulting in a thirty foot fall. Mr. McGoldrick
struck his head, loosing about half a pint of
blood as wall as fracturing his spine, wrist and
suffering internal injuries. Kevin, who caught
Brians fall with the climbing rope, did not
suffer any significant injuries. The pair yelled
for help and their distress message had been
relayed to Mt. San Jacinto State Park Ranger Mike
Whitehead and ultimately to RMRU.
After
being contacted by fellow RMRU member Kevin
Walker and being assessed of the situation, Bud
White, Henry Negrete and I hiked to the base of
Tahquitz Rock on the North Side, and with the
help of some local climbers, voice contact was
established with the party in question. Seeing
that they were about 400 feet down from the top
of the rock and with the light of day quickly
fading we quickly hiked back to Humber Park and
drove back to Camp Maranatha where base camp was
now set up and the members present were waiting
for the Marine Helicopter from El Toro to arrive.
Upon their arrival, Operations Leader Walk Walker
and Kevin Walker climbed aboard and flew up with
the crew to the now dark massif of Tahquitz Rock
to help the marines locate the injured party.
Winds aloft made flying tricky, but after a
period of time Walt and Kevin were able to talk
the crew into the right area and Brian and Kevin
were located. Corpsman Mike Anjola rappelled down
to the subjects from the helicopter. While mike
gave aid to the pair the helicopter returned to
base with Walt and Kevin, and then I was flown
back to be ready to give medical assistance when
the climbers were winched back into the
helicopter. The helicopter crew from El Toro did
some very skillful flying and rapidly evacuated
the climbers from the climbing face.
Also
involved in the mission were fellow members Jim
Fairchild, Joe Erickson, Ray Hussey, Mary
Bownman, Jay Pion and Steve Bryant. One
additional note, Brian McGoldrick was released
from Loma Linda University Medical Center after
about 24 hours of hospitalization in good
condition.
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