SAN DIEGO - A broken ankle led to the ingenious rescue of a woman from a Bankers Hill canyon Tuesday.
The woman was hiking in a canyon near 1st Avenue and West Palm Street Tuesday, when she twisted her ankle on the uneven terrain and was unable to walk. People nearby heard the woman crying out for help and phoned San Diego Fire Rescue crews.
At first, crews believed they may have to call in a helicopter to air rescue the woman, but decided instead to rig a belay system to hoist the woman and her dog out of the canyon. The woman was stranded about 100 feet below street level and under a bridge.
With fire crews above manning the ropes and the battalion chief running the show from inside the truck, crews hoisted the woman - and her dog - out of the canyon in a basket.
She was transported to a nearby hospital with a broken ankle.
