OregonLive.com
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. - A Texas woman hired a private helicopter to pluck herself and her daughter off the south side of Mount St. Helens early Wednesday after she was injured while hiking.
Nancy Allen, 48, climbed the mountain with her 18-year-old daughter on Tuesday, but they got lost on the way back and called 911, according to Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. A search-and-rescue team was dispatched and found the women early Wednesday, but Allen couldn’t walk, so the rescuers started carrying her down the mountain.
Part way down, however, at the 6,100-foot level, she told them she wanted to call a helicopter to take her the rest of the way, said Undersheriff Dave Cox.
One of the rescuers placed the call for her.
“I’ve never heard of this happening,” Cox said. “I don’t know how much it cost her, but I’m sure it was a spendy proposition. I know I wouldn’t be able to afford it.”