photo-source">Photo: Emergency Services & Law Enforcement – Grand Canyon NPS
–
A Texas man who had not been seen before Christmas in Grand Canyon National Park was rescued by helicopter from a trail last Thursday after several hikers spotted him.
Martin Edward O’Connor, 58, was checked by an emergency medical team, authorized to leave and meet with a family member on Thursday night, according to a park spokeswoman. By Friday, it was not clear how or where he had spent the previous 11 days or what injuries he suffered, if any. O’Connor had been last seen on December 22 at Yavapai Lodge, a hotel within the national park where he had been staying since December 17.
The first word that something was wrong came on Monday, with a brief press release and a Facebook post from the Grand Canyon National Park: “Search for missing persons initiated in the Grand Canyon.” The Park Service said it was believed that O’Connor was traveling alone and asked anyone who had seen him or talked to him to get in touch.
On Wednesday, hikers did exactly that, going to an information office to say they had seen the missing man, according to spokeswoman Lily Daniels. They confirmed that they saw O’Connor along the New Hance Trail, which according to the park is “recommended only for highly experienced hikers.” “It is not maintained and may be the most difficult established path on the southern edge of the Grand Canyon,” according to the park website.
Daniels said hikers saw O’Connor just out of the way about three miles down (4.8 kilometers), under some kind of overhang. “I think I was looking for shelter among the elements,” he explained. Although it had snowed two or three times while he was missing, she wasn’t sure if it had snowed exactly where he was.
When hikers reported what they had found, it was too late to send a helicopter that same Wednesday, Daniels said. But the rangers left Thursday morning, found O’Connor where hikers had seen him and took him by helicopter around 10 a.m.
Daniels said the helicopter took him to the edge, where an ambulance was waiting for him with medical services. He was checked and released there and did not have to be transported to a hospital. “It’s amazing,” he said.
RELATED:
A man jumps into the void from the Skywalk in the Grand Canyon
Wave of deaths in the Colorado Canyon. And the falls are not the most dangerous. What’s going on
–
