Paula Kaplan-Reiss, 59, and her husband had, on Aug. 10, 2019, reached the summit of Squaw Peak near Great Barrington, Mass., when she fell 30 feet to a steep slope and then tumbled to a nearly-inaccessible ledge above another steep slope and 30-feet drop. She was severely injured, and those at the top of the peak could not see her. A college student of South Egremont, Mass., Henry F.F. Grant, 18, became aware of the situation and on his trail descent from the summit with his mother decided to leave the main trail to search for her, shortly arriving at the base of a 30-foot rock wall that he deduced was below Kaplan-Reiss. With no climbing gear, Grant slipped his hands into a crevice in the rock wall and climbed 18 feet until he could see her kneeling unsteadily on the ledge. Still on the wall, he used his cell phone to alert rescuers to her location. He then ascended the remaining portion of the rock wall and a steep slope to another 6-foot rock wall where he took her hand and comforted her. Another hiker used the same route to bring Kaplan-Reiss a windbreaker and a bottle of water. Grant let that hiker take his place, and he climbed up to the top of the ledge where he secured Kaplan-Reiss until rescuers could use ropes and a metal basket to lift her to the summit. Rescuers also brought Grant and the other hiker to the summit. Kaplan-Reiss suffered a concussion and broken bones; she recovered.
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