The U.S. Coast Guard last week rescued an injured rafter stranded in a section of the Rogue River with no road access.
According to a news release from the Coast Guard on Sunday, the incident took place Thursday near North Bend.
A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Air Station North Bend medevaced the 68-year-old man with a leg injury 53 miles southeast of North Bend.
The Curry County Sheriff’s Office notified the Coast Guard of the situation around 4 p.m., the release said, and the chopper arrived on the scene around 6:30 p.m. The crew spotted the group of 10 rafters at a clearing near the river and hoisted the injured man. He was taken to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford on Thursday evening. His condition was not immediately available.
“Access to remote areas can quickly become challenging when someone is seriously injured,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tahnee Zaccano, Coast Guard search and rescue mission coordinator for the case. “The coordination between the Curry County Sheriff’s Office, the rafting party who packed the proper satellite communications device, and our aircrew enabled us to safely transport this individual to a higher level of care.”
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