Man survives 50-foot fall off river bluff

The accident happened just over the Warren County line in Van Buren County around 3:30 p.m. Dunlap resident Mitch Bishop, 30, was reportedly cutting trees with a chainsaw to clear a river view when the ground gave way beneath him. He plummeted about 50 feet and suffered a broken leg while tumbling down the ravine.

Members of the Warren County Rescue Squad responded and played a major role in getting the injured Bishop up the bluff, which drops straight down in some spots.

‘Where he ended up was real hard to get to,’ said Mike Hutcheson, assistant chief of the Warren County Rescue Squad. ‘We had to take a basket to him, load him in the basket, and then pull him up.’

Once ropes were attached to the basket, it took around 10 rescue workers to pull Bishop up the bluff by hand. Down below, other rescue personnel had to make sure to guide the stretcher-like basket and keep rocks from falling on the victim.