By Gene Warner
The Buffalo News
Copyright 2008 The Buffalo News
DERBY, N.Y. — Mark Walter, 26, of Derby, was plenty lucky Wednesday night.
He was lucky that he wasn’t killed when the ATV he was riding flipped over and sent him tumbling 50 feet down a ravine in Derby.
And he was fortunate that his screams were heard by two young men trained as emergency medical technicians.
Joshua Kunch, 18, of Eden, and Joe Ziranski, 19, of Derby, were hanging out at Ziranski’s home on South Creek Road late Wednesday night when they heard someone screaming for help.
But by the time they reached the area where the screams came from, off South Creek Road near Eighteen Mile Creek, the screams had become too faint for them to find Walter.
A Town of Evans police officer headed downhill, while Ziranski and Kunch headed uphill on the steep incline.
Even in the dark, no longer hearing the screams for help, the two young men knew they were close when they first found Walter’s helmet and gloves.
“Joe and I were searching for about 15 minutes, and we saw him about 100 feet from the ATV,” Kunch said Thursday.
Town of Evans police said Walter was operating his ATV some time around 10 p.m. when he went up a steep incline. His vehicle flipped over, sending him down the ravine, where he came to rest pinned against a tree.
Walter, of Darlington Drive, Derby, no longer was pinned when he was found.
“He got out by himself, walked about 100 feet uphill and collapsed,” Kunch said. “He was conscious and alert and telling us he was a paramedic with Highland [Hose Volunteer Fire Company].”
Walter complained of rib pain and a possible broken left arm. Kunch, seeking his EMT certification at Erie Community College, and Ziranski, also a trained EMT, were concerned about a possible spinal injury.
So they stabilized him, while the officer called for Mercy Flight and the Hamburg Village Fire Department’s all-terrain rescue team. Walter was flown to Erie County Medical Center, where he was listed as stable late Thursday with hypothermia and rib and arm injuries.
Authorities don’t know how long Walterhad been yelling for help before his screams were heard.
Afterwards, Kunch, who’s with the Eden Emergency Squad, and Ziranski, who’s with Highland Hose, seemed pretty low-key about what they had done.
“I think it really went well,” Kunch said. “Being able to help him was the most important thing.”