STEELES TAVERN, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – State Police used a medflight helicopter out of Chesterfield County to respond to the weekend fall of a hiker in Augusta County. State Police’s Matt Demlein says the incident happened around 5:30 Saturday afternoon when a 20-year old female hiker sustained serious back injuries jumping off a cliff at the Saint Mary’s Falls Trail into the Saint Mary’s River. Augusta County emergency crews arrived first, then Medflight 1 — which consists of a pilot and four Chesterfield County Fire and EMS paramedics — flew 82 nautical miles to the scene and lowered a rescuer to the ground.

Augusta Fire and Rescue personnel on the ground guided the chopper over the heavily wooded area, then secured the injured hiker for hoisting back to the aircraft about 175-feet above. She was flown to UVA for further treatment, and her condition is unknown.