BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --
A 45-year-old man who says he fell down a cliff off U.S. 280 has been rescued after spending a night and a day trapped on a mountainside in Shelby County.
Chelsea Fire Chief Wayne Shirley says the man apparently had been camping and was looking off a retaining wall when he fell sometime Tuesday. The Chelsea and Cahaba Valley fire and rescue departments rescued him Wednesday night.
Shirley says the man, whose name was unavailable, was injured but finally able to reach his cell phone to call 911. Authorities tracked his location with a satellite signal.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office received a call about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday. Crews had to go over to Old U.S. 280, cross a creek and climb a mountain to find the man. They used a rescue basket to recover him. A helicopter took the man to University of Alabama Hospital.
Shirley says the man had bumps and bruises but his vital signs appeared to be good.
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