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MILLCREEK -- A 65-year-old man is expected to recover after he fell off a trail in Mill Creek Canyon. Bikers nearby heard him calling for help and notified police.
Rescuers said this man was not prepared to be in the mountains overnight. He had no food or water and was not clothed for the weather. With overnight temperatures now dropping into the 40s, he could have faced big trouble.
Search and rescue teams were called to the Church Fork Canyon area around 7 p.m. Wednesday by a pair of mountain bikers who heard a man calling for help. Apparently the man had been hiking alone when he fell off the trail and tumbled down a ravine, getting stuck in the thick brush and trees.
Lt. Manfred Lassig with the Unified Police Department said, "He tried to come down a little bit, couldn't do so, then finally because of exhaustion sat down and started calling for help."
Lt. Lassig said when search and rescue teams reached the man he was banged up and dehydrated. They gave him an IV and then lowered him on a rescue board about 500 to a nearby trail. Then rescue teams carried him to the trail head where his family was anxiously waiting.
His son, Casey Robertson, said, "We just can't help but thank (the rescuers) from the bottom of our hearts for how much they do for everyone here, and how well they carried him out safely and got him where he needed to be."
The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for dehydration but he's expected to be fine. Rescuers said he's very lucky someone heard him calling for help, not only because he wasn't prepared to be in the mountains but because he never told anyone where he was going to be hiking.
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