CROCKERY TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Emergency crews worked for more than an hour to get through heavy brush to rescue an injured hiker Monday evening, said Crockery Township Fire Chief Gary Dreyer.
Firefighters were called to the Crockery Creek Natural Area about 6:15 p.m. after a hiker fell and hit his head on a log, Dreyer said.
The Grand Haven man, in his 40s, was hiking with a friend in the Ottawa County park at the end of Wren Street off Leonard Road, Dreyer said.
"The hiker was walking down into a ravine area following a deer path," the fire chief said. "He stepped on a decaying log, lost his footing, and fell back and hit his head on another log."
The hikers called 911 and the friend walked out to the parking area on Wren to direct emergency personnel back to the scene.
"He was probably a quarter-mile back off the parking area," Dreyer said. "The shortest route to get him back out was through heavy brush. It was labor-intensive getting him out."
Dreyer also said that recent rains also made the area very slippery.
Spring Lake Township firefighters brought their off-road vehicle to the scene, but were unable to get back into the ravine with it, Dreyer said. So firefighters carried the man on a stretcher out of the woods to a cot, which had been wheeled across the field.
The man was then wheeled to an ambulance waiting at a residence, which was closer to the incident than the parking area, Dreyer said.
The ORV was used to transport equipment, he said.
The man was taken by ambulance to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. He was conscious and alert at the time, Dreyer said.
The man's name was not available by press time.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
