Man rescued after 5 days stranded in Oregon coast dunes

helicopter carries rescue basket above the sand dunes

A man is rescued after five days of being stranded in the dunes on the Oregon coast. (Coos County Sheriff)

Brandon Roblan was on a hike with his wife and two children on the John Dellenback Trail near Lakeside in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area when he heard someone call for help.

He looked down and saw a man prone on the sand dune below.

“Somehow I heard his ‘help’,” Roblan said.

Roblan, 30, said when he reached the man, he “couldn’t even talk, his tongue was so swollen.” Roblan said he tried to yell at his wife above to bring water, but she couldn’t hear him and he had to call her on his phone.

The 54-year-old man had been stranded in the dunes for five days, according to the Coos County Sheriff Office.

He was rescued by helicopter Saturday after hikers called 911 around 11:30 a.m., officials said. The man had suffered a neck and back injury after falling off a dune. After five days, he was also dehydrated.

According to Roblan, the man’s tongue was also blistered.

“It’s probably the worst shape I’ve seen anybody in,” he said.

Roblan, who was visiting family in the area but lives in Port Angeles, Washington, said he stayed with the man and talked with him, telling him help was coming. It took about an hour for paramedics to reach them, Roblan said.

Emergency workers hiked in and gave the man medical aid, but because of the difficult terrain they contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, officials said. The agency dispatched a helicopter.

According to Roblan, they found the man only a half-mile or a mile from the trailhead, but Roblan said there was a 90-foot sand dune between the mean and the trail entrance.

Authorities have not released the man’s name or condition, but Roblan hopes to connect with him again and see how he’s doing.

Roblan said he was a U.S. Marine and so was the man he helped save.

“I told him, ‘Chopper’s coming to get you,’” Roblan said.

And that is what happened. Around 1:45 p.m., the helicopter arrived, and the man was loaded into a basket, taken out of the dunes and flown to a local hospital.

helicopter carries rescue basket above the sand dunes

A man is rescued after five days of being stranded in the dunes on the Oregon coast. (Coos County Sheriff)

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker

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