On Wednesday evening, March 25, a flight crew with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion rescued a hiker suffering a medical emergency in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Guard was notified shortly after 3pm Eastern time that a hiker was injured along the False Gap Trail in a remote area of the park southeast of Gatlinburg, near the North Carolina border and needed immediate medical assistance.
The Blackhawk helicopter arrived at the rescue site shortly before 4pm and about 30 minutes later the helicopter landed at UT Medical Center in Knoxville where the patient was rushed into the emergency room.
Tennessee Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk hoists Sgt. 1st Class John Sharbel and a hiker in medical distress into the aircraft near False Gap Trail, a remote area of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, southeast of Gatlinburg near the North Carolina border, March 25. (submitted photo)