by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

A 20-year old man who is believed to have fallen approximately 50 feet from Bradley Falls was rescued late Monday night and airlifted to Mission Memorial Hospital by helicopter. He was said to be in stable but critical condition as of late Monday, according to Polk County Emergency Management.

He has been identified as Cody Barra, of Moore, S.C.

Polk and Henderson County emergency crews responded to the scene off Holbert’s Cove Road in Saluda at Big Bradley Falls to rescue the man who was found at the bottom of the falls late Monday afternoon, May 9. It took crews approximately seven hours to rescue the man from the bottom of the falls.

Polk County Emergency Management Director Bobby Arledge said Polk called for assistance from the state N.C. HART, which was scheduled to arrive at 9 p.m. with a helicopter to get the victim out. The name of the victim has not yet been released.

The man was found at the bottom of the falls by two hikers in the area around 3:15 p.m., Monday.

One hiker who found the victim said the victim was in very bad shape and he was unsure how long he had been there. Another hiker, apparently with the victim, told the hikers who found him he’d been searching for the victim for approximately four hours. The hiker who found the victim explained some of the victim’s injuries on a television interview Monday, including that he clearly suffered a broken wrist and was bleeding from the head. The hikers who found the victim had to hike out of the woods in order to get cell phone reception to call 911.

The Saluda Fire and Rescue, Polk County EMS, the Polk County Rescue Squad, Columbus Fire Department, Polk County Emergency Management, a representative from the state Emergency Management Department as well as several agencies from Henderson County assisted in the rescue, according to Arledge.

Bradley Falls is a common area for emergency rescues. Several people have died over the years from falling off the falls.

Several years ago after crews rescued someone falls at Big Bradley Falls about once a year, officials placed signs in the area that caution the danger, with some signs clearly stating people have died from falling in the area.

Some of the fatalities include 24-year old Jesse Pague, of Saluda, who died after falling in April 2012; North Carolina Division of Forest Resource’s Curtis Jessen, 32, of Asheville, who slipped and fell about 50 ft. after helping to put out a brush fire at Big Bradley Falls in August 2008 and 22-year old Limestone College student Paul Casey, of Greenville, S.C.