Coeur d'Alene man falls in Maui forest, rescued by helicopter
Courtesy photo A rescue helicopter in Hawaii picks up Coeur d’Alene resident Tanner Doerr, who survived a brutal fall while hiking a Maui forest Friday.
Courtesy photo Tanner Doerr of Coeur d”Alene posts a selfie in a Hawaii hospital bed after being rescued by helicopter personel after falling 20 feet near a waterfall in Maui.
Visiting friends in Hawaii, North Idaho College student Tanner Doerr coveted a helicopter tour of the scenic islands.
The ride he got in Maui on Friday wasn't what he had in mind.
After suffering a 20-foot fall while hiking the remote forests of Makamakaole Gulch, Doerr, 22, was emergency airlifted by a local fire department.
The Coeur d'Alene man was hiking with friend Ethan Parks before falling near the base of 90-foot waterfall. Being a 45-minute walk away from the nearest trail in the woodsy area warranted the air rescue.
After locating Doerr and Parks, helicopter personnel were lowered by rope to reach the two men before being dropped off to a nearby road and sent to Maui Memorial Hospital.
Doerr, who suffered three fractured vertebrae, a broken scapula and a ruptured spleen, was posted up at the hospital Sunday afternoon feeling "terrible but better" than he did Friday.
"That was not the kind of helicopter ride I had in mind," joked Doerr, who says he doesn't recall the fall or the trip to the hospital because of his head injury.
Parks, who lived in Coeur d'Alene before moving to Hawaii, said it took nearly two hours for emergency personel to find them. He said he didn't see Doerr fall, but believes he fell when climbing down a lengthy rope near the waterfall.
"He almost fell into the waterfall," Parks said, "When I found him I thought he had fallen over and hit his head on a rock. It was a pretty instense situation."
Due to the head injury, Doerr said he kept asking nurses how he had ended up in the hospital.
One nurse went as far as putting a note near his bed to remind him why he was there.
"Tanner, you fell and I'm unsure how far," the note read. "You cut your head, broke your rib, broke your back and injured your spleen."
Doerr, who attended Lake City High and Bridge Academy, plans to be back in Idaho soon.
"I am very thankful to be alive," Doerr said. "It could have been a much worse situation."