RUMFORD – Ryan Coyner was headed home to Greenwich, Conn., after a night with rescuers on the Mahoosuc Trail and a brief stay Sunday in Rumford Hospital.
The 18-year-old became stranded on Surplus Mountain in Andover on Saturday after he was struck with severe dehydration and heat exhaustion. A cell-phone call alerted rescuers to the stranded hiker, who was visiting from Connecticut with his father, according to Rumford Hospital Dr. Charles Armstrong.
Though the call was made around noon Saturday, Andover Rescue crews didn’t reach Coyner until much later. It took a while to pinpoint his location.
Once rescuers reached Coyner and his father they immediately gave Coyner fluids and created a shelter.
“He was very sick,” said paramedic Bob Jordan, who was among the rescue party and tended to Coyner’s hydration and exhaustion.
By the time Coyner was hydrated and rested enough to move, it was dusk, and rescuers decided to stay with Coyner overnight on the mountain rather than attempt to get off the trail in the dark.
“Sufficient rescuers were not available till well into the night,” said Jordan. Though the Maine Warden’s Service was waiting with extra help, the dangers involved with moving someone off a mountain at night convinced the rescue group to wait until morning to evacuate Coyner.
Over the course of the night, Jordan was most impressed with the other campers on the mountain. According to Jordan, there were two other hiking parties who greatly helped the rescue. One party, from Quebec, cooked a dinner for the rescuers, while the other group offered dry clothing to Jordan and a tent in which the rescuers could spend the night. “Everybody was great,” said Jordan, “they were very giving.”
After a night’s rest and rehydration, Coyner was able to walk off Surplus Mountain around 11 a.m. Sunday, and he was taken to Rumford Hospital.
Armstrong, who treated Coyner, said the hiker walked out of the hospital within two hours of being admitted. Coyner was “very dehydrated” but appeared okay after getting fluids and eating some lunch, said Armstrong.
The doctor also said that Coyner was “very impressed with the EMT services, who hiked in two and a half hours and bunked in” with him overnight.
After leaving the hospital, Coyner and his father began their return trip to Greenwich.
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