A Clarkstown, NY, police officer on vacation in Washington state rescued a woman with a broken leg by carrying her down mountain trails on his back.
Officer Dave Mahibir was hiking with his girlfriend when they encountered a couple at a 10,000-foot elevation and found the woman was injured.
"I knew my leg was broken instantly because I heard it. And it was loud," Cheyl Diekkman tells 4NEWYORK.
The couple was being helped by two nurses who were also hiking the trail. The nurses fashioned a splint for Diekkman’s leg but knew the challenge would be getting her down off the mountain. They estimated it would have taken five or six hours for rescuers to reach their location and it would be dark by then.
So Mahibir offered to carry the injured woman on his back.
"My legs are buckling, they're shaking, but like I said, we had to do what we had to do," Mahibir says in describing the event.
He says that in hindsight, he can’t believe he was able to make it down the mountain, but his adrenaline, police training, and his heart made it happen.
"It’s just people helping people. I think that for us, us police officers, helping just comes naturally," Mahibir says.
