Date: Fri 26-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

rescue-fall-Pootatuck

Full Text:

with cuts: Boy Escapes Injury After Fall Into Gorge

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

A 13-year-old boy who was hiking with friends in rugged Rocky Glen in Sandy

Hook on the afternoon of April 18 slipped and fell about 30 feet down an

extremely steep slope of the gorge, landing in the cold, rushing water of the

Pootatuck River.

Steve Ftacalas appeared shaken but without serious injuries from his fast

tumble down the nearly sheer slope which is dotted with evergreens and rocks,

according to emergency service workers. The youth, who is from Michigan, was

staying with people in Brookfield.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Chief William Halstead said the

youth apparently bounced off rocks and trees as he slid down the dark, wet

slope. The incident took place about one-half mile downriver of the Church

Hill Road bridge over the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook Center. The river was

higher than normal due to recent heavy rains.

Sandy Hook and Newtown Hook and Ladder firefighters responded to the scene to

aid the boy. The police, the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the regional

paramedic, and Newtown Underwater Search and Rescue (NUSAR) also responded to

the call for help.

Ftacalas remained alert throughout the ordeal, Chief Halstead said.

Sandy Hook resident Lynn Knapp, who was walking in the area when the incident

occurred, heard a noise which she thought was a boulder rolling down the gorge

wall and into the water. That noise was Ftacalas tumbling down the extremely

steep slope and falling into the river.

After he landed in the water, Ftacalas could he heard calling out for help,

she said.

Luckily for the boy, there were people in the area who rushed to his rescue

when he landed in the water, which was about three feet deep.

Sandy Hook, Newtown Hook and Ladder, and NUSAR squad members launched an

inflatable rescue boat on the east side of the river, pulled it to the west

side where Ftacalas was, placed him in the boat, and then pulled it back to

the east side of the river.

Emergency service workers carried the boy up a dirt road to a waiting

ambulance for a trip to the hospital to be checked out.