Home / Disasters and Accidents / Miracle Rescue: Lost Hiker's SOS Saves Biker's Life
Miracle Rescue: Lost Hiker's SOS Saves Biker's Life
2 Oct
Summary
- iPhone SOS led rescuers to a hiker lost for over 12 hours.
- Rescuers arrived just in time to save a critically injured motorcyclist.
- A hiker's unexpected SOS call facilitated a life-saving rescue.
Two lives were saved on Sunday due to a series of fortunate events on Angeles Crest Highway. The Montrose Search and Rescue Team was dispatched after receiving an iPhone SOS alert from a hiker who was over 15 miles off course and had been hiking for over 12 hours.
While en route to the hiker, the team encountered a motorcycle accident about five miles ahead. Deputies arrived to find a biker with severe leg injuries and significant blood loss. They immediately applied a tourniquet, stemming the bleeding and stabilizing the victim.
The critical intervention by the deputies, who were minutes away due to the hiker's SOS call, allowed for a rapid helicopter response. This rapid medical aid was crucial, as a delayed response from a farther fire department crew would have been too late for the biker.
Following the successful rescue of the motorcyclist, the search and rescue team continued to locate the lost hiker. The hiker, who had started his trek in Sierra Madre, was found dehydrated but otherwise unharmed. The confluence of these events highlighted the unpredictable nature of rescue operations.
