On Monday night, officials in California claimed to have rescued a little child who was dangling from a rope from the catwalk of the state’s tallest bridge, the Foresthill Bridge.
When his equipment failed, the 19-year-old was left dangling from the bridge’s bottom, unable to return to the catwalk. According to a Facebook post by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, the juvenile’s rope was around 30 feet long.
The Foresthill Bridge in Sacramento is the tallest in California and one of the tallest in the United States, towering 730 feet over the North Fork of the American River. Between the cities of Auburn and Foresthill in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The suspended teen’s 17-year-old friend recorded the deed in the hopes of catching the 19-year-old swinging from a rope over the river. The companion contacted 911 after recognizing the 19-year-old was stranded and needed aid, according to the sheriff.
The event caused no injuries, but the boy who was discovered hanging from the bridge “was pretty shaken up,” according to Nolan Hale, the battalion chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who talked to CBS Sacramento.
We had to remove him out of the harness for approximately an hour and a half, Hale added.
The operation involved more than two dozen rescue professionals, including sheriff’s office and Cal Fire specialists. A rescuer was lowered from the catwalk to the place where the 19-year-old was suspended using a vertical rope. Despite the fact that the 19-year-old was not physically injured and rejected additional medical attention, he and his buddy were handed trespassing penalties.
According to Hale, bungee jumping and base jumping from the Foresthill Bridge are forbidden since the majority of incidents on the bridge entail rescue attempts.
“This is the first incident of a live rescue in the last 30 years,” Hale said, adding, “Someone dangling 700 feet above the American River is a high-risk operation with vertical rope rescue.”
