Hiker seriously injured in fall

Two Maryland State Police helicopters rescued a hiker that had fallen 40 feet from a cliff on Saturday in Morgan County in a heavily wooded area near the Woods Resort.

The approximately 25-year-old woman suffered serious injuries and fractures in the fall that occurred along Maverick Trail by Hedgesville, said Lieutenant Walter Kerr, Maryland State Police Helicopter Operations Commander.

The call came in to Morgan County Dispatch around 11:30 a.m. Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Company responded to the scene and determined that the victim could not be safely extricated through conventional ground techniques. They requested additional aerial resources, said a Morgan County dispatcher.

Maryland State Police Trooper 3 and Trooper 5 responded, as did Frederick County Advanced Technical Rescue and Helicopter Emergency Aerial Tactical personnel.

Ground personnel had to cut open a small area in the tree canopy above them for the rescue, according to a Maryland State Police Aviation Command press release.

The hiker was immobilized onto a backboard and was successfully hoisted into the aircraft. While the ground preparation for the extrication took awhile, the actual aerial rescue took around 15 minutes, Kerr said.

The victim was then transported by air to Winchester Medical Hospital by a Health Net 8 chopper.