PORT ANGELES – A 49-year-old man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Saturday after he spent a night alone about one mile south of Little River Road with an injured leg.
The condition of Joe Popinski, 49, hometown unavailable, was unavailable Saturday afternoon.
Popinski fell 30 feet from a hunting stand early Friday morning and lay on the ground overnight with a possible broken hip and leg, said the Clallam County Fire District No. 2 incident report.
Popinski’s calls for help were heard by other hunters who called 9-1-1 on their cell phones.
He had been on the ground since 6 a.m., said the fire district.
He was taken to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles before he was flown to Harborview.
A nursing supervisor at Harborview said he had not been admitted as of 6 p.m. Satuday.
Sixteen people from Clallam County Fire District No. 2, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office and Clallam Search and Rescue rescued Popinski.
Jon Bugher, chief of Clallam County Fire District No. 2, said the incident was a reminder to those going into the wilderness to tell someone where they are going and when they expect to return.
