A male hiker was injured Wednesday when he fell from Raven Cliff Falls in northern White County.
White County Fire Department personnel from Stations 2 and 3, along with mutual aid from Helen Fire Department and Lee Arrendale State Prison Fire Department, were dispatched around 3 p.m.
The initial call was about a hiker who had fallen from the top of the waterfall area at Raven Cliff’s, which is located off Richard Russell Scenic Highway, said White County Public Safety Director David Murphy.
According to Murphy, the male had hiked into Raven Cliff Falls and had made his way to the top of the falls. While there, he slipped and fell onto the last ledge before the main drop of the falls, which Murphy said is about a 55-foot vertical drop.
Emergency personnel hiked in and removed the patient from the falls to an area where Georgia State Patrol Aviation, using their Bell 429 helicopter with a hoist, lifted the injured hiker out.
The patient then was taken to a White County ambulance, where paramedics further evaluated him and transported him to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with what Murphy described as non-life-threatening injuries.
The entire operation took about three and one-half hours.
