YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – A rock climber whose thumb was severed when he fell and it was caught in a rope has had the digit reattached by surgeons, officials at Yosemite National Park said Wednesday.
The two climbers were nearing the summit of 7,569-foot-high El Capitan on Monday afternoon when the lead climber fell, said park spokeswoman Kari Cobb.
A safety rope wrapped around the man’s right thumb, slicing it from his hand. The severed thumb fell onto a ledge, where the man’s climbing partner was able to retrieve it, Cobb said.
A helicopter rescue crew took the injured climber, and his thumb, off the mountain using a technique park officials termed a “short-haul.”
The technique involves suspending rescuers from a line while the helicopter hovers ahead, with the rescuers taking the climber off the wall of the mountain.
“This was an incredibly technical and complex rescue mission with a lot of inherent risk,”
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