ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine — A 22-year-old New Hampshire man had to be rescued from the park after he dislodged a large rock that fell on his left hand, amputating a finger and causing him to fall, according to a park ranger.
The incident was reported about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, after the man and a friend had gone bouldering along the rocky cliffs that line Ocean Drive between Sand Beach and Thunder Hole, Ranger Darren Belskis said Monday. Belskis did not disclose the man’s name.
“It amputated his left ring finger and broke another [finger],” the ranger said.
The man, who was not climbing with ropes or other safety gear, fell about 10 to 15 feet and broke his right foot, he added. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening.
About 11 people, including members of Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue, were called out to get the man back up to the road to a waiting ambulance, Belskis said. The man was fitted into a climbing harness, lifted with ropes to the cliff face, then carried maybe 20 feet to the road, he said. The rescue effort took about two hours from start to finish.
Belskis said the man eventually was taken to a Boston hospital with the goal of re-attaching his severed finger. He said he had not heard whether that effort was successful.
Belskis said the incident occurred near where another man fell in May without suffering any significant injuries and where a New Jersey man fell to his death about one month ago.
Sections of the rocky cliffs along that part of Acadia’s coastline, he said, can be more prone to erosion than other areas of the shore.
“It’s a combination of a high-use area, and it’s treacherous terrain,” Belskis said. “It’s a crumbly area.”
