A breathtaking video shows California rescuers plucking an exhausted hiker from the edge of a cliff, where she was clinging to a few rocks with all her strength — trying to keep from plunging to her death.
Sheriff’s deputies in Riverside County dispatched a rescue helicopter after receiving an emergency SOS from the famous Pacific Crest Trail, where they spotted the woman clinging in a “death grip” over a near-vertical drop, Riverside Sheriff Aviation wrote alongside bodycam footage posted Monday to Instagram.
“She was exhausted from that position for over an hour, and with a heavy pack with unsure footing,” the post said.
The video gives a first-person view of a rescuer rappelling Mission Impossible-style from a cable and struggling to secure the woman, whose arms and legs were quivering with exhaustion.
“He just could not risk asking her to lift her arms, that she was clearly death gripping the cliff with, in order to place a rescue strap on,” the Instagram post said.
Instead, the hero held her in a “bear hug” until the chopper could hoist them safely to the top of the cliff.
In the video, the team’s radio chatter sounded calm, as the crew flawlessly executed the death-defying maneuver.
The deputy on the cable even managed to rescue the hiker’s cell phone — which she had been gripping in her hand — while saving her life.
It wasn’t Riverside Sheriff Aviation’s first airborne rodeo this year.
In the past month alone, the team has posted a half dozen videos of rescuers and their trusty chopper “Rescue 9” plucking stranded hikers out of the SoCal wilderness before they succumbed to thirst and exposure.
“The Pacific Crest Trail has been quite busy for us this season!” the department wrote.
