ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine — A 32-year-old man suffered injuries to his lower extremities that were not considered life-threatening when he fell about 60 feet from Otter Cliffs Friday morning, according to park officials.
The man, from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was rescued from the base of the cliffs by a Coast Guard boat and then flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
In a prepared statement, park officials indicated that the Massachusetts man was climbing as part of a private climbing group at Otter Cliffs, a popular oceanfront rock climbing spot, when the incident occurred a few minutes after 8 a.m.
It was one of three incidents Friday morning in the park in which visitors were injured. None of the names of the injured visitors were released by park officials.
About 9:30 a.m., park officials received a call from an employee at the Thunder Hole gift shop about a 60-year-old man from Avon, Connecticut, who had been injured while hiking along the Shore Path that parallels Ocean Drive.
Responders with the Bar Harbor Fire Department, Mount Desert Island Search & Rescue and the national park carried the man up from the rocky shore to Ocean Drive and loaded him onto a Bar Harbor ambulance. He was then taken Mount Desert Island Hospital in Bar Harbor for treatment of a lower leg injury.
About 45 minutes later, about 10:15 a.m., park officials received a call about another injured hiker on Acadia Mountain, on the western side of MDI. In that incident, an 18-month-old boy from Scarborough had fallen while hiking with his family.
His parents carried him toward Route 102 and were met along the way by park rangers, MDI Search & Rescue members, lifeguards from nearby Echo Lake, and ambulance personnel from Northeast Harbor. The boy then was taken to MDI Hospital as a precaution. No details about his injuries were released.
In the release, park officials urged all park visitors to be careful while in Acadia over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
“Rangers also caution hikers that the availability of rescue personnel can often be restricted by other incidents and that all hikers, bikers and climbers should know the basics of first aid,” park officials said. “Being prepared for self-evacuation or a limited rescue response can be critical as the availability of emergency responders may already be dedicated to more critical patients.”
