Dramatic video shows the moment a man is rescued by helicopter after falling nearly 60 feet from a path near California’s Golden Gate Bridge, clinging desperately to the side of a cliff.
Around 7:40 p.m. Sunday, Marin County firefighters called the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to request a helicopter to respond to a man who had fallen off a cliff.
The victim was “approximately 50 to 60 feet below the trail, clinging to a gravel rock face.” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
A helicopter crew rushed to the scene and spotted the man with a thermal imaging camera before landing nearby and preparing for a longline rescue.
A tactical flight officer was sent flying over a cliff, where a barefoot victim was clinging on for dear life.
“Hey, don’t let me go, hey! Don’t let me go, okay?” a rescuer can be heard shouting in the video.
He then wrapped a harness around the stranded man and reassured him, “Okay, brother.”
Rescuers and victims were then airlifted to the top of the cliff for medical evaluation.
It was not immediately clear what the victim was doing on the hiking trail several hours later. He had not been identified as of Tuesday, and no word on his condition was released.
