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Person reportedly finds friend fallen from a tree stand near Sour Springs Road, Alabama

Submitted by Howard Owens on November 6, 2011 - 2:04pm

A caller has reported finding his friend fallen from a tree stand in an area off Sour Springs Road, Alabama.

There is a truck parked beside the road. The caller is no longer on the phone and is reportedly performing CPR on his friend.

Alabama Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched. Mutual aid requested from Akron and Shelby.

Mercy Flight being dispatched.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m.: The caller called his mother in Lockport, who called 9-1-1. The information was relayed to Gensee County Emergency Dispatch by Niagara County dispatchers.

UPDATE 1:08 p.m.: Medina ambulance in route. Mercy Flight may be needed to help spot the location of the victim from the air.

UPDATE 1:15 p.m.: The truck has been located. It's in the area of Onondaga Nature Trail.

UPDATE 1:16 p.m.: Patient not located, but the caller has a visual on Mercy Flight 5 overhead. Chief states, "I believe we're in the right area." (At some point, dispatch got the original caller on the line and patched the caller through to a chief on scene.)

UPDATE 1:20 p.m.: The caller said they were more than a mile off the road. A chief is cutting a chain off a gate. Contact with the caller has been lost.

UPDATE 1:24 p.m.: Responders have reached the end of the trail. "We're going to have to backtrack. We're unable to locate anybody."

UPDATE 1:26 p.m.: The caller has been found and is walking responders back to the patient's location.

UPDATE 1:28 p.m.: Manpower needed to carry the patient out. The trail is not accessible by vehicle.

UPDATE 1:31 p.m.: Medina put back in service. If Shelby has manpower on the south side of the bridge, they are requested to the scene.

UPDATE 1:35 p.m.: Patient located.

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Alabama

November 6, 2011 - 2:30pm

Irene Will

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Joined: Feb 2 2009

THANK GOD for VOLUNTEER Firemen and Mercy Flight !!!!!!

November 6, 2011 - 6:23pm

Howard Owens

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Joined: Apr 23 2008

One thing I want to note -- while other media were reporting that the hunter had died, we were not. I felt there was enough information in this post that a family member who had not been notified could read it and reasonably conclude who the person was involved in the incident.

It was an awkward situation knowing the man had died and just cutting off the updates, which could lead to somebody guessing the man had died, but I felt it best to leave it ambiguous at that stage.

While notifications have not been completed as of this moment, the Sheriff's Office has officially confirmed the man's death, so I'm now comfortable confirming his death (post is at the top of the home page for the moment).

I deleted two comments earlier that noted that other media was reporting the man's death. That's fine for the other media, but I didn't want that on The Batavian at the time so deleted those posts.

While we always love and value updates when readers have additional information to share on breaking news, I think when it involves the death of somebody, I want to be the one making the judgment call on what to share, regardless of what other news outlets are sharing.