‘Stunning survival story': Police rescue California man trapped behind waterfall for two days
Ryan Wardwell, 46, of Long Beach, went to waterfalls known as the Seven Teacups on 10 August with plans to rappel down, the sheriff's office of Tulare country said in a social media post. But the 'extreme hydraulics' of the waterfalls pushed Wardwell off his rappelling lines and trapped him behind a cascade of the Kern river, according to the sheriff's office.
His failure to return to his car that night prompted local law enforcement to spend 11 August searching for him with infrared technology and aircraft. Difficult terrain and fading daylight thwarted their efforts that day. But rescuers found Wardwell the next day after flying a drone behind the cascade in question.
Wardwell was alive and conscious when rescuers spotted him, and he told them how he had become stranded there, the Tulare county sheriff's office said. A California highway patrol helicopter crew then managed to hoist him to safety to cap off what the sheriff's office declared a 'stunning survival story'.
Wardwell received treatment for dehydration and 'only minor injuries', and he was reunited with family who had gone to the scene, the sheriff's office said.
The agency published video of Wardwell's rescue on Facebook, where it captured attention from news media outlets that reported on the situation. The clip showed the helicopter whipping around foliage and water around the cascade before the crew lifted Wardwell onboard.
An attraction for hiking and outdoors adventure enthusiasts, the Seven Teacups are in a secluded area about two hours south of the Sequoia national park, which itself is east of Visalia, California.
Wardwell had rappelled the falls several times before, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. On his 10 August trip there, friends had accompanied him, though they opted to stop going further after seeing the rushing water's power, California highway patrol flight officer paramedic Mike Crane said to the Chronicle.
According to the outlet, Wardwell's friends left a note on his car telling passersby to report him missing if the vehicle was still there the next day, which it was.
Wardwell ended up nestling himself in a dark cave beneath the waterfall – completely soaked – after being thrusted off his rappel lines, the Chronicle added.
Tulare county sheriff's office captain Kevin Kemmerling told the Chronicle that Wardwell fought to escape for two days, 'but there was nothing he could do to break through'.
'There was no way for him to warm up or dry out in there, so it had to have been miserable,' Kemmerling said to the newspaper.
Crane, speaking to the Chronicle, added: 'I got the impression that maybe he didn't know if he was ever going to get out of there.'
The Tulare sheriff's office said in its statement that it reminded members of the public 'to always be aware of their environment and capabilities, especially when navigating white water rivers' like the one at the Seven Teacups.
'Stay safe, stay smart and stay alive,' the statement from the sheriff's office said.
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