Kayaker rescued from Fort Ross beach

A 58-year-old kayaker badly injured himself Monday morning and had to be flown from the Sonoma Coast to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

The man paddled in to a beach at Fort Ross and called for help, said Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman. Foggy conditions precluded a helicopter from landing in the area.

A state parks lifeguard and two Timber Cove Fire Protection District personnel took care of the initial treatment and loaded the man into a lifeguard’s rescue vehicle, said Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Meredith. The man was then taken by ambulance to Duncans Mills, where he was transported by helicopter to the hospital, Meredith said.

The unidentified man severely cut a lower leg and was bleeding heavily, though it was unclear how he got injured, Meredith said.