Cloverdale hunter released from hospital after pig attack

ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A 69-year-old man attacked by a wild pig was released Thursday from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Ernie Sanders of Cloverdale was seriously injured Wednesday while a member of a hunting party in a remote area northeast of Lake Sonoma.

The hunters found and reportedly wounded a wild boar but it attacked and bit Sanders on the knee, leg and hands. The hunters killed the pig, said Rick Blackmon, a battalion chief with the Cloverdale Fire Protection District.

The hunters used a cell phone to call for help, but in such a remote area it took rescuers about an hour to locate Sanders.

Two helicopters from CalFire and the REACH medical air ambulance joined in the search, and both eventually landed to assist the injured man, Blackmon said. The REACH helicopter transported Sanders to Memorial.

A hospital spokeswoman said Sanders was discharged Thursday. He could not be reached comment.

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