CLEVELAND -- A White County man spent more than four hours hanging upside down from a tree Wednesday night before his calls for help were acknowledged.
The call to a person in distress in the area of Ashley Drive off Webster Lake Road was received about 8:30 p.m. White County Fire Services, White County Sheriff's Office and White County Emergency Medical Services responded.
A neighbor told a deputy sheriff that cries for help were heard, but were difficult to locate because the area is vast and sound travels, said White County Public Safety spokeswoman Ana Newberry.
"Firefighters made entry with the assistance of a neighbor with an ATV carrying personnel and equipment," Newberry said. "About three-quarters of a mile in off of Ashley Drive firefighters located the person who was hanging upside down from a tree stand. The patient had been checking his tree stand when he lost his footing and was caught by his foot and then turned upside down. The patient had been calling for help since 4:30 p.m."
Rego Cano and Josh Daniels of About Time Tree Service, who live in the area of the incident, provided assistance to White County emergency personnel, who accessed the patient and set up a rigging system to lower the patient to the responders below, Newberry said.
The injured man was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center for treatment of apparent non-life-threatening injuries, Newberry said.
"White County personnel would like to thank the many neighbors and the employees of About Time Tree Service for their assistance with equipment and manpower," Newberry said. "Mr. Jamie Chastain, who is a firefighter with White County Station 7, is a supervisor at About Time Tree Service. Lt. Chastain heard the call on the county pager and contacted his employees Rego and Josh who live in the area and had them assist the firefighters on scene."
Newberry said neighbors provided the ATV used to transport emergency personnel and equipment to the scene and back to the emergency vehicles. White County Fire Chief Norman Alexander brought the county Polaris (ATV), where the patient was placed once evaluated by EMS and taken to the waiting ambulance.
