An editorial from The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The skills and commitment of our emergency first-responders are things we tend to take for granted.
Until we need their services.
As details emerged from Sunday’s rescue of two young hikers, we gained a special appreciation for the talents of the Fayette County Vertical Rescue Team.
The call came, as so many of them do, at a bad time. Around nightfall, a young hiker had left the trail and had gone over a cliff at the New River Gorge National River.
As the team scrambled to assemble itself and gather its gear, they received confusing reports of a second hiker who had apparently fallen near the same site.
The team made contact with the first hiker, a 13-year-old boy, near the end point of the 1.5-mile Long Point Trail.
The teen’s 19-year-old brother was also located, and the team retrieved them both and rushed them to get medical attention.
Both of the brothers are fine, but not all such rescues in rugged territory end as well…
