A teen and her dad have a Father’s Day story they won’t soon forget.
The girl, 14, her father and their dog were rescued from the Deschutes National Forest on Sunday afternoon after the teenage hiker severely injured her knee and was unable to hike back to the trailhead.
A five-person crew from the U.S. Coast Guard based in Astoria responded by helicopter about two hours after the Oregon Department of Emergency Management alerted rescuers to the stranded family.
The helicopter carried two rescue swimmers — such as the one who pulled the alleged Oregon yacht thief and ‘Goonies’ prankster from the Pacific Ocean in February 2023 — even though it was an inland operation.
Video of Sunday’s rescue revealed the complexities of lowering rescuers to the scene. Due to the location’s steep terrain and tall trees that exceeded the helicopter’s hoist cable length, the helicopter dropped the rescuers about a quarter of a mile away from the hikers, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
“The environment in this region posed significant challenges,” Lt. Cmdr. Jason Weeks said in the statement.
Once the rescuers located the injured hiker and her father, they helped the girl onto a stretcher, bundled her and carried her over large logs and snow-covered stretches. Heavy winds were blowing throughout the rescue. The Coast Guard declined to identify the family.
The rescuers lifted the girl and then her father and dog with a rescue basket attached to the helicopter’s hoist cable and transported them to Redmond Municipal Airport. Both hikers were in stable condition once they arrived at the airport, where the Coast Guard transferred them to emergency medical services.
The Coast Guard recommends that hikers carry forms of emergency communication and appropriate gear in case they need to shelter in place while rescuers arrive.
Sunday’s crew included three dads working on Father’s Day.
“So it was very heartwarming,” Weeks wrote.
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