Border Patrol rescues injured migrant from remote wilderness area

Agents carry man for nearly an hour

JAMUL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - U.S. Border Patrol agents went to extreme lengths to rescue an injured migrant from a remote area on Otay Mountain.

It started around 11:30 Tuesday night, when Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) agents came upon a group of four migrants while patrolling the wilderness area surrounding the mountain. They took those men into custody, and began canvassing the immediate area.

Agents say that's when they heard a cry for help, and discovered the injured man. The 41-year-old Mexican national had fallen 15-feet down a waterfall and landed on a rocky outcropping. He told agents his traveling companions abandoned him after he got hurt.

Agents determined the man's foot was broken. They stabilized him, and loaded him onto a litter. However, the terrain prevented the BORSTAR helicopter from finding a safe place to set down.

Agents carried the man for more than an hour in the dark, through over the rough terrain, until the reached a safe extraction point. The copter airlifted him to an ambulance which took him to a hospital for treatment.

“Our agents go to great lengths to help others,” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke.  “If not for their grit and selflessness, this situation could have ended much worse.”

The four illegal migrants apprehended earlier in the night were taken to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing.