An injured hiker was rescued by Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue personnel after being left behind by other backpackers at Kanab Creek, in the north rim of the Grand Canyon on Friday evening.
According to Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, on September 15, at around 6 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call from a 63-year-old man asking for help by using an Apple device through a satellite connection.
The hiker was part of a group of five friends who were backpacking when fell and had a traumatic injury to his shoulder that needed emergency medical attention and evacuation.
Search and Rescue was activated, along with the DPS Western Air Rescue helicopter from Kingman – flying a rescue specialist and medic to the location provided by the Apple device. As the helicopter arrived on scene, it was very dark with tall canyon walls surrounding Kanab Creek – providing a tight and limited landing area for the helicopter. The helicopter landed about a quarter mile from the injured hiker’s location. Once landed, the crew made their way through the creek and boulders to the hiker.
The hiker was stabilized and then assisted back to the helicopter and then transported to a Flagstaff hospital for further medical evaluation.
When asked about the other four hikers and their whereabouts, it was learned that the injury occurred around 2:00 p.m. earlier in the day. Once contact for help using the Apple device was confirmed by the hiking group, the other four hikers left with the Apple device and continued on their backpacking adventures – leaving the injured hiker behind alone. They had already been backpacking about 3 or 4 days and had another 3 or 4 more days ahead of them.
It is unclear what time the original call for help was made from the Apple device.
The Sheriff’s Office says it “was fortunate that the helicopter was able to rescue this injured hiker, as it would have taken an extended period of time for ground crews to reach his location. Search and Rescue encourages everyone to never leave someone behind alone and whenever possible, to stay with them and ensure they are rescued before continuing on their journey.”