Man Rescued After Cardiac Arrest at Mont-Blanc Refuge
A 52-year-old man experienced cardiovascular arrest at the Parmelan refuge in Mont-Blanc on Thursday, August 21st.Located at 1800 meters above sea level near Annecy in Haute-Savoie, the refuge was inaccessible by helicopter due to weather conditions.rescuers were forced to reach the man on foot, according to France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and were able to successfully revive him with the help of witnesses.
Mountain Rescuers Undertake Perilous On-Foot Rescue After Helicopter Unable to Land
A hiker experiencing cardiac arrest was rescued from a mountain refuge in Haute-Savoie, France, after dense fog prevented helicopter access. The challenging rescue, involving a descent on foot, took over seven hours from the initial emergency call to the hiker’s arrival at the hospital.
The refuge is located at an altitude of over 1800 meters and was enveloped in fog on the evening of the incident, making aerial rescue impossible, according to Philippe Graham, a rescue official. “[The] helicopter could not come,” he stated. This prompted a team of 13 rescuers, including firefighters and doctors, to begin a climb to the refuge on foot.
Upon reaching the hiker,the rescue team found him unconscious,in a coma. While a helicopter was present in the area, conditions prevented a landing near the refuge, as reported by Le Parisien. https://www.leparisien.fr/haute-savoie-74/lincroyable-sauvetage-dun-randonneur-victime-dun-arret-cardiaque-en-haute-savoie-23-08-2025-PXZ76CM5XFH6LM2PFVUJCKWEQI.php
Rescuers carefully placed the man, reported to be in his fifties, onto a stretcher and began the arduous descent. The journey down the mountain took more than two and a half hours. He was finally transported to the Annecy Geneva hospital center approximately seven hours after first experiencing discomfort.
Philippe Graham emphasized the dedication of the rescue teams, stating, “I think that we must congratulate all the rescue teams who have mounted with all the equipment and who came down the victim on foot, it is indeed the most critically importent.” antonin Gorce, the first to respond to the emergency, expressed hope for the hiker’s recovery, telling Le Parisien that his recovery would be “our reward.” as of the latest reports, the hiker remains in a coma.