Hiker cheats death at Cedar Creek

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

A late night hiker fell 40 feet off of a bluff near Cedar Creek and lived to tell about it.

Southern Boone firefighters made the high angle technical rescue on Backbone Road near Cedar Creek about four miles east of Englewood on Monday night.

According to Captain Roger Mertensmeyer, a 20-year old female fell approximately 40 feet over a steep embankment. Her companion, a man in his early 20's had climbed down to her after her fall.

Firefighters responded to the 10:17 p.m. call and rappelled down to the victim and, with assistance from the Columbia Fire Department, secured her in a basket and raised her back up the cliff. The rescue took nearly two-and-a-half hours.

The young woman (fire personnel would not release her name) was conscious and talking upon her transport to University Hospital. The male was assisted up and did not require medical treatment.

Mertensmeyer said Tuesday the victim was out of the hospital about an hour after arriving.

"I would say she went down (vertically) about 40 feet, obviously she was lucky she wasn't injured any worse than she was," Mertensmeyer said. "She had no broken bones that I was aware of and wasn't in a lot of pain."

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