BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – A man was airlifted from the Blue Ridge Parkway after a motorcycle crash sent him nearly 100 feet over an embankment over the weekend.
Botetourt County Fire & EMS Chief Jason Ferguson said crews jumped into action to save the man’s life.
“It’s our role to make sure that we’re putting all the things in place to give anybody that’s critically ill or injured a fighting chance,” Ferguson said. “We certainly feel like we did that in this event.”
First responders used a rigging system to safely rescue the patient and ensure the crews’ safety, too.
Ferguson said teamwork and the right resources turned this rescue mission into a success.
“Somewhere around 10-12 years ago we had a very similar incident,” Ferguson said. “Not quite as far over the embankment, and like I’ve told a lot of our folks was what I was able to appreciate is in that really in a decade is how far we’ve come as an organization and as a system with our Special Operations team.”
After bringing the patient to higher ground, the man was airlifted to Carilion.
“For us, that would have been about a 25-30 minute ground transport,” Ferguson said. “By air, they were at Roanoke Memorial in five minutes.”
Two things improved the outcome of this crash, Ferguson said. One, there was someone around to notice the fall. Second of all, the motorcyclist’s helmet. He encourages people to always wear theirs when they’re out riding. Virginia law requires it.
The fire chief said he last heard the man was awake and recovering in the hospital.