Christmas Miracle: Colorado woman survives 200-foot fall in San Gabriel Mountains
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA: A female hiker miraculously escaped death in San Gabriel Mountains on Saturday, December 24 after falling 200 feet down a trail, during the trek. The hiker has been identified as Ruth Woroniecki, 40, of Thornton, Colorado who was camping with her family near Lytle Creek.
Woroniecki left her campsite at around 5:00 am to travel to Cucamonga Peak, situated at 8,800 feet. After making it to the peak she began to return and near switchback as she hiked down, she slipped on ice and tumbled 200 feet, coming to rest on a fallen tree trunk that broke her impact, according to Cpl. Chris Mejia, spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Mejia said a nearby hiker found Woroniecki and activated a handheld GPS device to call for help, LA Times reported.
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The San Bernardino County sheriff’s office said in a news release that, "an SOS alert was received by the International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) and was transferred to San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dispatch. Fontana Station deputies and Sheriff's Aviation were dispatched to the scene".
The department said, the crew of 40 King 4 responded and began an extensive search to locate Woroniecki. After locating her, it said, "the crew determined a rescue helicopter would be needed due to her location and the amount of time it would take for ground crews to reach her". Later the crew of Air Rescue 306 responded and made several attempts to hoist a rescuer down to Woroniecki's location. The Sheriffs Department said "the rescue was challenging due to gusty winds" coming over the Cucamonga Saddle which "made the rescue difficult".
After all the challenges a rescuer was dropped off west of Woroniecki's location, with ice axes and crampons, he walked to Woroniecki's position and evaluated her health, the official said as per the outlet. "He placed Woroniecki in a rescue harness and transported her to an open location, away from trees." Woroniecki and the rescuer were hoisted into the helicopter "and transferred to an American Medical Response ambulance waiting nearby at the San Antonio Dam" from there Woroniecki was transported to a hospital for further evaluation and treatment. As per the reports, no further information is available related to her health condition.