He ascended Mount Hood in Oregon with the intention of committing suicide, but somewhere along the journey, the climber changed his mind.
After reaching the mountain’s peak, the climber, who has not been named, decided he no longer wanted to end his life, so he called last Thursday for help, the Clackamas County sheriff told The Oregonian.
Then the Oregon Army National Guard went to work to save him.
Chinook helicopter at Mt Hood to rescue out of state climber #KOIN6NEWS #mthood pic.twitter.com/MziKxSIiZo
— Lisa Balick (@lisabKOIN) July 13, 2018
“He ended up calling basically saying he was up there, he was going to be taking some medication,” Sgt. Sean Collison, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, told KOIN-TV.
The Wake-Up Call Video About Suicide Everyone Should Force Themselves to Watch
In order to save the man, who was ultimately retrieved uninjured, the national guard sent a chinook helicopter and a team of six rescuers into an altitude of more than 11,000 feet. The helicopter’s pilot landed the aircraft on just its two back wheels while the front of the chinook hovered in the air for an operation that lasted roughly three minutes.
The rescue took place while ice and rock were falling from the mountain.
“Because of the angle, we had to crawl out there just to get under the rotor blades,” rescuer Joshua Kruse, who was with the 304th Rescue Squadron, said. “It’s kind of surreal, but you just have to trust that the pilots know what they’re doing.”
After the chinook safely landed, the climber was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
If you are contemplating suicide, remember you’re not alone. If you need someone to talk to, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
(H/T: KOIN-TV)