CHP officer rescues hiker from whirlpool
An offduty California Highway Patrol officer saved a 24yearold hiker trapped in a whirlpool at Angel Falls above Bass Lake in Madera County on Saturday.
The falls, a wellknown feature on the Willow Creek Trail, is a popular destination that is also known for slippery conditions along the path.
Deputy Sarah Jackson, a public information officer with the Madera County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that Officer Brent Donley, a 20year CHP veteran, pulled the hiker to safety with the help of bystanders, including Donley’s 23yearold soninlaw, Daniel Pena.
Donley works out of the Fresno office at the Shaver Lake resident post and has specific training in search and rescue. Jackson characterized the incident as Donley being in the right place at the right time and suggested the hiker “should buy a lottery ticket, yesterday was his lucky day.” The name of the hiker has yet to be released.
A video of the incident released by California Highway Patrol Fresno shows Donley tying the cord from his backpack around a stick and throwing it to the hiker trapped in the rapidly swirling water.
Once the hiker was able to grab the stick, Donley — anchored by other bystanders — pulled him out of the whirlpool with Pena grabbing him out of the water once he reached the shore.
“Every year we respond to calls of people drowning at Angel Falls,” Jackson said of the popular trail. “Many times it ends up in fatality. We want to urge people to take caution around the water when it’s so deep and swift like right now with good snowpack in runoff.”
Jackson cautioned that if you do see someone drowning not to jump in after them due to the risk of drowning yourself.
“What Officer Donley did with paracord and rope and human anchors on shore was the right thing to do,” Jackson said.
“All I did was use what I had and stayed calm,” Donley said. “I tried to make sure everybody was calm so nobody else got hurt. It was good to help somebody out who was obviously in need. That’s all it was about: making sure he was safe.”