Pig hunter rescued after falling into ravine near Healdsburg

A badly injured pig hunter was rescued Sunday from a deep ravine outside Healdsburg, lifted to safety by a helicopter through a narrow gap cut into the forest.

The 71-year-old Vallejo man fell about 200 feet down a ravine while hunting pigs near the 4100 block of Shaina Road west of Healdsburg, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The man’s son met rescue crews at the road about 11:45 a.m. Sunday and guided them to the ravine a mile away. His father, who injured his hip and suffered multiple broken bones, was unable to climb up on his own and rescuers deemed it too dangerous to carry him out.

The forest canopy was too dense to lower a rescuer into the ravine from the sheriff’s Henry 1 helicopter. Ultimately, a Cal Fire crew with chainsaws cut down three trees, opening a small hole in the forest. Henry 1 pilot Paul Bradley lowered a paramedic to the injured man and pulled them both to the helicopter hovering above.

The man, whose name was withheld, was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for serious, yet non-life threatening injuries, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Healdsburg Fire and Sonoma Life Support personnel participated in the rescue.

You can reach Staff Writer Nick Rahaim at 707-521-5203 or nick.rahaim@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nrahaim.