Santa Clara County

College Students Help Bring Stranded Man to Safety After Fall Near Reservoir in Santa Clara County

Thanks to group of alert young adults, a man is being treated early Thursday after he took a tumble, broke his leg and became stranded near the Guadalupe Reservoir in Santa Clara County.

The man fell about 10 feet in the middle of the night and became trapped on an embankment about 150 yards away from Hicks Road, but he managed to flash a light at cars whizzing by, eventually drawing the attention of the group of young adults driving along the South Bay road, according to Santa Clara County Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeff Sadler.

"He was lucky that he was spotted by some kids driving by," Sadler said.

The group stopped their cars and called out to the man, who didn't have a cellphone to call for help on his own. 

"So we were just driving down Hicks Road and then we see a light flashing from over there and so we agreed to pull over," Sam Miller, one of the young adults, said. "We get out of the car and we hear a guy moaning like he’s in pain and we yelled back and forth asking what happened. I guess he just fell down the hill somehow."

After one of the young adults in the group called 911, rescue crews eventually arrived and scooped up the man, according to Sadler.

The "complex" rescue took about nearly two hours because the man, who was bleeding from his leg as a result of the fall, was stuck on the opposite side of the reservoir.

The man was listed in stable condition, according to Sadler.

Contact Us