TOWN OF THOMPSON, NY — On August 2 at 7:40 p.m., forest rangers Allison O’Connell and Timothy Schweider responded to a call for an injured hiker at Mullet Falls in the Neversink River Unique Area. Rangers reached the hiker by 9 p.m. 

Rock Hill EMS splinted the hiker’s ankle and rangers, members of the EMS crew and the Rock Hill Fire Department assembled a wheeled litter to carry the 32-year-old from Spring Valley to a waiting UTV, which took him approximately 1.3 miles to a Hatzalah EMS ambulance. 

The injured hiker was part of a group of approximately 80 hikers. Rangers issued a ticket to the group leader for having a group of more than 20 people on state land without a permit.

And the next day

On August 3 at 7:55 p.m., forest rangers Paul Quinones and Schweider responded to a call for a despondent subject in the Neversink River Unique Area. At 9:45 p.m., rangers and Sullivan County Sheriff’s deputies made contact with the 46-year-old from Wurstboro. The subject was approximately 20 feet up a tree and did not answer when search crews called out to them. The subject then climbed an additional 40 to 50 feet up the tree. 

The Sullivan County Crisis Negotiation Team and a friend of the subject joined responders at the scene at 11 p.m. The subject climbed down from the tree at 12:15 a.m. Rock Hill Fire Department, rangers, and Sullivan County Sheriff’s deputies walked the subject to the trailhead where he was taken by Rock Hill EMS to the hospital.

Resources are available for those experiencing a mental health crisis or emotional distress—988 is a free 24-hour hotline to call or text anywhere in New York.