Capt. Kevin Caffery and Deputy Art Litzinger of the Erie County Sheriff’s Air One helicoptor unit rescued a 16-year-old girl who reportedly suffered a compound fracture of her right ankle and minor head injuries when she fell while climbing in the steepest part of the Zoar Valley gorge near Fourty Road about 6 p.m. today.
The girl, whose identify was not released, was taken by Mercy Flight to Erie County Medical Center for treatment after Caffery flew the Air One helicoptor into the gorge and he and Litzinger climbed up about 100 feet to where the injured girl was on a cliff.
The sheriff’s crew was assisted by the Gowanda Fire Department’s rope rescue unit and state forest rangers. The girl, who was in the gorge with friends, lost her footing while climbing up the cliff and she fell onto the ledge.
The girl, whose identify was not released, was taken by Mercy Flight to Erie County Medical Center for treatment after Caffery flew the Air One helicoptor into the gorge and he and Litzinger climbed up about 100 feet to where the injured girl was on a cliff.
The sheriff’s crew was assisted by the Gowanda Fire Department’s rope rescue unit and state forest rangers. The girl, who was in the gorge with friends, lost her footing while climbing up the cliff and she fell onto the ledge.