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Dirt biker rescued after breaking leg

Durango Herald

Published August 26, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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A 38-year-old dirt biker was rescued by helicopter Sunday after breaking his leg on the Hermosa Creek Trail.

Travis Bryson, of Bloomfield, N.M., suffered a compound fracture when he rode off a 40-foot, rocky embankment, said Butch Knowlton, director of La Plata County's Office of Emergency Preparedness. The accident occurred about eight miles from the trailhead on County Road 201.

Fourteen search and rescue personnel were dispatched to aid Bryson, and 12 people on motor bikes volunteered to help ferry equipment, Knowlton said.

Bryson was riding with four companions when the accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Passersby alerted authorities as soon as they were within cell-service range.

Initially, it was uncertain whether the helicopter would be able to land in the precarious terrain with winds generated by a nearby storm. But the winds died down enough to make it possible.

"Literally, we landed in the middle of the river," Knowlton said. The helicopter made two trips: one to drop off a medic and another to retrieve Bryson.

The injured man arrived at the trailhead at 5:15 p.m. and was taken by ambulance to Mercy Regional Medical Center.

His condition was not immediately available. In a compound fracture, the bone breaks through the skin.

Comments

  • August 26, 2008

    10:20 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mtn__Gator writes:

    Different strokes for different folks....in this case...2 stroke (engine)

  • August 26, 2008

    1:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    transplant03 writes:

    freethought - assuming you are on a computer that is powered by something other than pixie dust and Obama's sweat (i.e. coal burning power plants that create the electricity you take for granted), and assuming you find some pleasure in writing asinine comments, aren't you also polluting for pleasure and if so, what do you deserve? Oh, that's right, your thought is free, not logical, rational, or pragmatic. You big dummy, just be quiet.

  • August 26, 2008

    3:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    db writes:

    No different than retrieving a skier from a slope.
    ... freethought needs a hobby.

  • August 26, 2008

    3:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    El_Mariachi writes:

    He's no Aaron Ralston (guy who cut off his own arm to free himself for survival)...

  • August 26, 2008

    3:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    AngelontheSidelines writes:

    Hermosa Creek Trail is a fine track, motorcycles will smooth out the bumps to a certain extent making mtn biking better. Horses OTOH dimple the track and leave their signature odoriferous gifts for hikers and bikers.

    I appreciate multiple use and support motors where trails mark their use.

  • August 26, 2008

    5:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Logical writes:

    freethought - you apparently think the SAR expense was too much, whatever it was. You think the rider was adversely effecting the environment.

    Well, I think the protesters downtown are wasting resources (police salaries, labor to erect barricades and holding facilities, rental of fencing and facilities, etc.), and encroaching on many other people's enjoyment of the environment. Does that make what they are doing wrong, any more than your opinion makes what the cyclist was doing wrong?

    Change your handle - you have less free thought and acceptance of others than any of my Republican friends.

  • August 26, 2008

    9:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Sundog writes:

    This should have been classified under "Breaking News."