Photo courtesy of Chelmsford Police Department
A Massachusetts police officer was rescued from a hiking trail in New Hampshire early Sunday after showing symptoms of a potentially serious medical condition while hiking hours earlier, officials said.
The rescue was hampered by storms in New Hampshire but a group eventually got the officer, Sgt. Stephen Fredericks from Chelmsford, off the trail he'd been hiking after nearly 12 hours, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and Chelmsford police.
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"We are very thankful to our law enforcement partners for his rescue and safe return," Chelmsford police said in a statement.
Fredericks, a 49-year-old experienced hiker who had the appropriate equipment for his trip, was on the Carter-Moriah Trail in Gorham Saturday with eight other people when he showed symptoms of a potentially serious medical condition. Fish and Game law enforcement officials were called about 1:10 p.m.
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Fredericks and his companions were about five miles from the nearest road, prompting so the rescue group asked for a New Hampshire Army National Guard military helicopter to be flown from Concord to take him to the hospital. But stormy weather forced the aircraft to turn back to Berlin Airport, and conditions didn't clear up enough for an aerial rescue to be possible, according to Fish and Game officials.
A backup call had been made to Androscoggin Valley Search & Rescue in case the aerial rescue wouldn't work, and volunteers were able to hike up to Fredericks and carry him out, with conservation officers and his group, officials said.
They reached the trailhead at about 12:35 a.m. on Sunday and Fredericks was taken by ambulance to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin.
