High Angle Rescue

Honorable Mention Spot News New Mexico APME 2002

Gallup, N.M. - 12-15-2002 - Gallup City Police Department and Gallup City Fire Department personnel bring 12-year-old Rhianon Wilson down off the hogbacks behind the Gallup neighborhood Indian Hills, Sunday, December 15, 2002. The cliffs are over 600 feet high, and it was reported that Wilson fell 20 to 30 feet while swinging from a rope. Wilson was transported to a local hospital. According to rescue personnel, at some points the path down was at more than an 80 degree angle and the rescue took over 45 minutes. This is the first high angle rescue for the rescue crew this year. Children continued to play on the cliffs, even while the rescue workers were removing Miss Wilson.