Weston, Mass., Hiker Rescued After Leg Injury On Valley Way Trail In New Hampshire

RANDOLPH, NH — A Massachusetts hiker was rescued Thursday afternoon after suffering a serious lower-leg injury on the Valley Way Trail in Randolph, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Fish and Game said it was notified by New Hampshire State Police Dispatch at about 2:45 p.m. on June 25 about an injured hiker on the trail. The agency said the hiker had slipped and fallen while hiking down and was hurt about 1.6 miles up from the Appalachian Trail parking lot.

The injured hiker was identified as James Bell, 49, of Weston, Massachusetts. According to NH Fish and Game, Bell had been hiking with his kids when the accident happened. Earlier in the day, the group had summited Mt. Adams and Mt. John Quincy Adams and was on the way back down when Bell was injured.

Conservation officers and several volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue responded and hiked up the trail to reach Bell, according to the agency. The rescue team applied a vacuum splint to his injured leg and placed him on a litter for the trip down the mountain.

NH Fish and Game reported that rescuers started carrying Bell down the trail at 5:48 p.m. The team arrived at the parking lot at 7 p.m., the agency said.

From there, Bell was placed in a Gorham Ambulance and taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for treatment.

The rescue involved state conservation officers and volunteer search-and-rescue personnel on a trail leading from one of the region's better-known hiking access points.