MUST SEE:'Lucky' Tourist Saved in Dramatic Cliff Rescue Near Golden Gate

Rescue photo courtesy of the Mill Valley Fire Department. Marin County Firefighter Willie Krakauer, who rappelled down a cliff to save a fallen tourist, seen in second photo. Courtesy: County of Marin.

--

Marin County fire officials say a San Francisco tourist is “extremely lucky” after being rescued near the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, having fallen an estimated 75 feet down a steep cliff— where he clung to the wrist of an unidentified good Samaritan about 300 feet above San Francisco Bay.

The man, who is approximately 45-50 years old and believed to be from Florida, slipped after climbing a fence to take a photo near Battery Spencer off picturesque Conzelman Drive, a popular Marin Headlands spot for tourists just above the bridge, according to county officials.

”An emergency call was placed at 5:14 p.m. and first responders from the Southern Marin Fire Department and the Marin County Fire Department arrived a few minutes later,” officials said in a news release.

The county described the dramatic rescue scene as follows:

“Marin County firefighter Willie Krakauer, part of an engine crew from the Marin City station, put on a harness while in transport to the cliff.

Southern Marin Fire personnel set up a rope rescue system upon arrival.

In the early evening darkness, Krakauer rappelled down the cliff and clipped a rescue rope to the dangling man, who had been holding onto another man’s wrist with one hand and vegetation with the other.

He had no support under his feet.”

In the end, it took about 15 minutes for the emergency personnel to haul the man to safety. He was cleared by paramedics at the scene.

“He was extremely lucky,” said Marin County Fire Battalion Chief Jeremey Pierce. “He could have easily fallen all the way to the water.”

Marin County Fire said the man who had held the stranded man’s wrist was about 20-years-old and from Russia, but otherwise unidentified.

Personnel from National Park Service rangers, the California Highway Patrol and Mill Valley Fire Department also assisted with the rescue.