It’s believed that Selma resident Scott Armstrong was scouting out locations for gold panning on Tuesday.
That’s when he fell more than 200 yards, which is about two football fields down a ravine in the Illinois Valley.
“It was so steep, he hurt his knees, so he had a hard time,” says Kris Sherman of the Illinois Valley Fire District.
Battered and bruised he tried to get back up the hill.
Sherman says “he said he almost made it back up the hill twice and then fell back down. So the last time he just ended up staying at the bottom of the hill.”
Friends and family were worried.
“Somebody went up to the area looking for him because he didn’t come home,” says Sherman.
They spotted his car, they yelled down the hill, he yelled back.
Search and rescuers were called out early Wednesday morning.
The rescue was difficult because of the steep terrain.
“We had to set up a rope system to help lower him to help him get down off the hill. We had a great team effort everything went smooth, all the teams worked well together,” says Sherman.
Working together, to help save a life.
And rescue crews were able to save his life because Armstrong did the right thing.
Sherman says “let friends know where you’re going let somebody know where you’re going so if you don’t return home someone can come look for you.”
Armstrong is being treated right now for dehydration, and back and neck injuries.
He is expected to be okay.
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