Kentucky State Police: Multi-agency helicopter hoist rescue recovers injured 18-year-old near Laurel River Dam

Kentucky State Police said a multi-agency rescue effort on Friday night used a helicopter hoist to extract an injured 18-year-old hiker from a difficult area near the Laurel River Dam. The injured hiker was reportedly trapped at the scene, and responders brought the situation under control using both ground personnel and aerial assets, the agency said in a press release shared with LEX 18.

The state police described the operation as a collaboration between Kentucky State Police and other state, local, and regional agencies. Officials said the hoist was used because the hiker’s location near the dam presented safety and access challenges that made a standard ground evacuation difficult.

Officials did not indicate in the release, as reported, how the hiker was injured or the specific nature of the entrapment. The press release characterized the outcome as a rescue that brought the injured person to safety after aerial assistance was deployed to reach the individual.

The incident occurred near the Laurel River Dam, an area where steep terrain and water-adjacent conditions can complicate rescue attempts. Kentucky State Police said the effort required coordination across agencies and a response that balanced time-sensitive medical needs with the risks posed by the environment.

Following the hoist extraction, responders worked to provide care after the hiker was recovered, and the case moved into the next stage of response under the incident command structure used for the operation. Kentucky State Police did not outline additional details on the hiker’s condition in the report.

LEX 18 reported that the rescue was carried out as part of state police operations with support from other agencies. As with similar incidents, the immediate next steps typically involve medical evaluation and documentation by the responding entities, with public updates limited to information the agencies choose to release publicly.

Kentucky State Police said the rescue reflected interagency planning and the ability to scale resources quickly when a person is injured in an area that is hard to reach by ground crews alone. Additional information, such as the circumstances leading to the injury, may be handled through ongoing investigation and follow-up statements if provided by the agencies involved.