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Sgt. Stephen Fredericks, 49, was hiking Carter Range of the White Mountains on Saturday, July 8, with eight friends when he began suffering symptoms of a potentially deadly medical emergency, NH wildlife officials said. Officials did not detail his condition.
The seriousness of his condition and the location forced rescuers to dispatch an Army National Guard helicopter to rescue him, but thunderstorms, heavy clouds, and difficult terrain scuttled those attempts. Authorities tried twice to pluck him from the mountain before giving up on an aerial assist.
Instead, volunteers from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue team hiked five miles into the mountains to find Fredericks and his friends a little after midnight Sunday morning.
They carried him on a stretcher for five miles in the dark to get him to safety. Paramedics then took him to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin for treatment.
Officials stressed that Fredericks was an experienced hiker carrying the appropriate gear for the overnight trek.
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