A North Carolina EMT covered 1.5 miles and climbed 1,000 feet in elevation to deliver blood needed to help save a critically injured climber.
Will Soper, 28, was teaching a training course when he learned that a climber needed help on Shortoff Mountain. Jacob Gregory had fallen while climbing with his son, leaving rescuers facing a difficult operation in the remote terrain of Linville Gorge.
The August 30 rescue required crews to rappel into the gorge to reach Gregory, according to a fundraiser supporting his recovery. Multiple agencies joined the effort to treat him and bring him to safety.
Access has complicated other mountain emergencies, including the rescue of Twitch streamers stranded in the Swiss mountains, who needed a helicopter to get out. In Gregory’s case, rescuers also needed an urgent blood delivery.
EMT delivers blood after steep 31-minute climb
Soper drove roughly two hours to the mountain and began heading up with another team. He was already halfway along when command told him to turn around and collect blood for the injured climber.
“After their patient assessment, a request was made for assistance from the North Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART). While awaiting the helicopter, rescue personnel worked to clear and prepare the pick-off area for the aerial extraction,” Burke Rescue Inc and SAR said on Facebook.
“After a request for whole blood, a Burke Rescue volunteer ran approximately 1.5 miles, covering 1,000 feet of elevation in just 31 minutes, while carrying critical whole blood to the patient to help stabilize them for transport.”
He returned downhill, packed the blood and transfusion supplies into a cooler, and carried them back up in a backpack. The journey covered roughly 1.5 miles with 1,000 feet of elevation gain in about 31 minutes.
Facebook/Burke Rescue Inc and SAR“I just kept telling myself not to stop,” he told People, saying he arrived “right on time” to hand the blood to fellow rescuers.
Soper later clarified that he alternated between fast hiking and jogging without taking breaks. Gregory was stabilized and transported to Atrium Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
The delivery adds to other unusual rescue efforts, including a man using an agricultural drone to lift his neighbor out of floodwaters after boats could not reach him.
Soper also credited Gregory’s son, who lowered his father and provided first aid before rescuers arrived. Gregory suffered a spinal cord injury, but a subsequent fundraising update said he had regained sensation in both legs and some movement in his right leg.
“I am an ordinary person asked to do an extraordinary task,” Soper said. “Many people could have done this in a similar or faster time, so I urge them to consider this a call to action. If you read this and thought, I want to help, please contact your local rescue squad or search and rescue team.”
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
