Mountain biker uses helmet straps to slow bleeding after 500-foot fall, WA cops say
_fitted.png "A 51-year-old mountain biker from Seattle was airlifted to a hospital with a leg injury after falling into a ravine, deputies said.")
A mountain biker used his helmet straps to slow his bleeding after falling 500 feet in Washington, deputies said.
The 51-year-old man from Seattle texted 911 “HELP” at 11:39 a.m. July 6, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
He barely had cellphone service when he sent the message, deputies said.
Deputies said he had been riding along No Name Ridge near Little Kachess Lake when he fell hundreds of feet into a deep ravine.
During the fall, he was separated from his bike and supplies, so he didn’t know how to stop his leg from bleeding, deputies said.
Authorities directed him to make a tourniquet with his helmet straps to slow the bleeding.
Rescuers tried to reach him in the ravine but realized it was too steep, so it would take hours to get to him, deputies said.
He was then hoisted into a helicopter and taken to a hospital, deputies said.
Little Kachess Lake is about a 70-mile drive southeast from Seattle.
