With a severely fractured ankle, no cellphone signal, and stuck in the rough terrain of the Emgwenya valley, a 62-year-old hiker has said he is extremely grateful to the local men and women who had launched a nine-hour rescue mission to save him.
The Bulgarian-born Valeri Petrov, who lives in Johannesburg, had been on a hiking trip with seven other people in the Emgwenya valley on Saturday afternoon, June 17, when he fell and fractured his ankle while trying to cross a stream at about 14:05.
Petrov, who is now recovering in a Johannesburg hospital following his gruelling ordeal, said he is incredibly thankful to the nine Search and Rescue South Africa Lowveld (Sarza) members, six ER24 paramedics and his hiking companions for extricating him from a potentially very dangerous situation.
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He said after his fall, his fellow hikers had to navigate the trail out of the valley and managed to call for help at about 16:30.
Sarza Lowveld’s Andrew Geldenhuys said he had received a call from Mountain Search and Rescue in Gauteng to help Petrov, and immediately gathered his team together and called ER24 to assist in the extrication.
Geldenhuys said Petrov had fallen down just 3km along the trail, but due to the rough and steep terrain, the 80kg worth of equipment carried by the rescuers and the moonless night, it took them two hours to reach the injured man.
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ER24’s spokesperson, Russel Meiring, said once the rescue team had found Petrov, they assessed his injuries and concluded he might have a fractured ankle. ”The call was made to immobilise the patient and walk him out in a stokes basket with his lower leg in a splint and a vacuum mattress to keep his body from moving too much,” said Meiring.
He said using rope pulleys and some serious manoeuvring, the team managed to bring Petrov down from the mountain by 03:00 on Sunday morning.
Geldenhuys said that added to the already difficult conditions, it was also a particularly cold night. The temperature dipped to 4°C and the team had to make between four to five water crossings to get Petrov to safety. ”It was an intense rescue,” he said.
Petrov said he can never thank his rescue team enough. ”They did a fantastic job. It was really tricky terrain, but they managed and they kept me safe. This team were very fit, and I felt I was in good hands during the entire rescue,” he said.
Petrov said he was a hiking enthusiast and had travelled to Mpumalanga to hike some trails before, including the Emgwenya trail about two years ago. He said it was a beautiful place and that the incident would not stop him from hiking again once he had fully recovered.
He said he was initially taken to Mediclinic Nelspruit, but wanted to be moved to a hospital in Johannesburg.
He also thanked his companions, Slavena, Dimitrina, Zita, Tsetse, Serena, Annemarie and Chris. He said he does not know their surnames. Petrov said Slavena is a practising nurse and both Serena and Dimitrina are former nurses. He said they had all attended to him immediately when he fell. He said Annemarie had been the driving force in calling for help.
