Portland Man Airlifted from Katahdin After Six Hours of Being Trapped

As someone who grew up with a grandmother and mother who binge watched 60 Minutes, I am definitely an “assume the worst” type of person. Some may even dare to call me a “worry wart” or “hypochondriac”; I’m the annoying one in the friend group that is quick to point out the danger in any and every situation.

I worry because things do happen. For instance, I can’t go on a hike without picturing myself falling to impending doom. It doesn’t stop me from doing these things, but the worst-case scenario lives in the forefront of my mind.

Two separate hikers lived out a fear of mine on Mount Katahdin earlier this week. Just miles apart and a mere one hour in between incidents, the 36-year-old and 35-year-old hikers had to be airlifted to the hospital for unrelated injuries, according to an article in the Portland Press Herald.

As stated in the article, the Portland man fell as he was hiking on Dudley Trail in the Great Basin. He dislocated his shoulder as he fell and got trapped between two large rocks. Fortunately, he was hiking with a partner (like my mom says, there is safety in numbers!!), so his partner hiked four miles to a campsite and alerted a park ranger of the accident.

The man was stuck between the rocks for roughly six hours before getting life flighted by a Maine National Guard Black Hawk helicopter and received treatment at the Millinocket Regional Hospital, the Press Herald reported.

Six hours is a long time. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. The article stated he got rescued around 7:45 p.m. so he was stuck there in the dark with a dislocated shoulder...ugh! I was having a bad day this morning but someone screwing up my coffee order beats getting wedged between two rocks on a mountain, sheesh.