The DeKalb County Rescue Squad came to the aid of two coon hunters, 19 year old Chris Chapman and a 17 year old boy, who were injured after falling off a bluff late Saturday night about a mile from Tabernacle Road.
Joe Johnson, member of the Rescue Squad, told WJLE that the two young men were with three other coon hunters at the time. “There were five hunting in the party and they saw the two fall down the bluff. They couldn’t get down to them so they walked out on Tabernacle Road and contacted 911. They (911) dispatched us out there. We found a way to get in to the top of the hill with an ambulance and a rescue vehicle and then we used ropes to go down the rest of the way,” said Johnson.
Members of the Rescue Squad were on the scene from around midnight until 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning. “We got the call at approximately 11:42 p.m. that these two hunters had fallen into a ravine down through a bluff,” said Johnson.
“We had to rappel down with ropes about three hundred fifty feet to get to them and then we had to use manpower to pull each one back up in a basket,” added Dustin Johnson, Captain of the Rescue Squad.
“One of the hunters had injuries to his chest area. I’m not sure, it could have been broken ribs. He was in pain. The other man couldn’t walk. He had an injury to his knee and possibly a head injury. The juvenile was brought up first and taken by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital. While they were enroute with him, we brought the other man up. He refused treatment and went home in a private vehicle. We were out until about 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning getting them out and back up that bluff. The terrain was rough. We had to go down with ropes ourselves and then we had to pull each Rescue Squad member back out after getting the patients out,” said Joe Johnson.
Injuries to the victims were not believed to have been life threatening.
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