Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk file photo
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Coast Guard rescued a rafter Sunday after her pack raft capsized Saturday on the Klehini River north of Haines.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka located the 42-year-old woman, who was exhibiting symptoms of mild hypothermia, and flew her to Haines where she was placed in the care of local EMS in stable condition.
Watch standers in the Coast Guard Sector Juneau command center in Juneau first received the request for assistance at approximately 7 a.m. Sunday from Alaska State Troopers. AST had received a call from Customs and Border Protection stating that they’d located a man walking on the Haines Highway who reported that he and his female companion had become stranded on a sandbar where they’d spent the night. The man reported that he decided to swim across the river Sunday morning and hike to the road to find help.
The Coast Guard helicopter crew was able to land directly on the sandbar where the woman was stranded before taking her aboard.
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