Rescuers Rappel Down Freetown Quarry After Woman's Fall
FREETOWN (CBS) -- It was a tricky mission for rescue crews in Freetown, Tuesday.
A 20-year-old woman was hiking in the Freetown State Forest when she fell more than 70 feet off a cliff and onto an outcropping of rocks.
Rescuers had to rappel down the cliff to get her. Then, they put her on a board and lowered her to a boat, waiting below.
Captain Shawn Simmons of the Norton Fire Department described the challenges of the technical rescue.
"We had to set up several anchors up top and we lowered two rescuers down," he said. "Ironically, we've actually done training in this location before which was really beneficial because we've actually seen this site previously."
District Chief Roger St. Martin of the Fall River Fire Department was happy with the response.
"It was an hour and a half from the time of the call to the time the guys got mobilized to the time the victim was safe. It was pretty good."
The woman, identified as Hailey Meiggs, suffered only a broken ankle.
"She landed on an outcrop of rocks," Chief Gary Silvia of the Freetown Fire Department said. "She's very, very lucky, a very very lucky woman."
Police say a preliminary investigation by Freetown Sgt. Benjamin Levesque and Detective Shane Kelley revealed that Meiggs had been spray painting the vertical side of the ledge at the time of her fall.
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