Man Rescued From Rocks State Park Rapids, Officials Say

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A man was hospitalized after his ankle got tangled up in the rapids at Rocks State Park Sunday night, according to officials. Rescuers converged at the park, where authorities said it took nearly three hours to free him.

Several swiftwater rescue teams were called to respond, the Susquehanna Hose Company reported at 7:30 p.m. Its crew was assisting the Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company at the scene, where the man's ankle was stuck under a rock in the rapids at the park.

The man had jumped in and gotten swept underwater, his leg trapped under a boulder in the process, according to Jenn Chenworth, spokesperson for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

After special operations crews from Harford and Baltimore counties worked for nearly three hours to rescue him from the rapids of Deer Creek, she said the victim — a man in his 30s — was taken to a regional trauma center with serious injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

Due to the weather, Chenworth said medevac service was down. Harford County had been under a severe thunderstorm warning earlier in the evening, and nearby Baltimore County was under a flash flood warning following heavy rains that were unleashed early Sunday evening.

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