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Chelmsford police sergeant carried 5 miles down mountain after medical emergency in N.H.

New Hampshire officials attempted a helicopter rescue, but thunderstorms and clouds forced a change of plans.

July 10, 2023

1 minute to read

Rescuers carried a Chelmsford police sergeant down New Hampshire’s Mount Moriah Saturday after he was stricken with a “potentially serious” medical condition while on the mountain, officials said.

New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers were contacted for help around 1:10 p.m. after 49-year-old Stephen Fredericks began experiencing medical issues on the Carter-Moriah Trail near the summit of Mount Moriah, the agency said in a press release.

Fredericks lost consciousness for an unknown reason, WCVB reported.

Chelmsford Police Sgt. Stephen Fredericks. – Chelmsford Police Department/Facebook

Given Fredericks’s symptoms and distance from the nearest road, officials asked the New Hampshire Army National Guard to send a helicopter, according to the N.H. Fish and Game release.

While a Blackhawk flew up from Concord, thunderstorms and clouds over the mountain prevented it from rescuing Fredericks, the agency said. Instead, volunteers with Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue hiked nearly 5 miles with a rescue litter.

AVSAR volunteers, conservation officers, and Fredericks’s hiking companions carried him out on the litter, according to the press release. The rescue crew arrived at the trailhead at 12:35 a.m. on Sunday — nearly 12 hours after the initial call for help — and Fredericks was taken to Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin by ambulance.

N.H. Fish and Game offered no further information on Fredericks’s condition but noted that he is an experienced hiker who had plans to hike the Carter Range with eight companions.

“He possessed all the appropriate gear as well as additional gear as he was planning an overnight hiking trip,” the agency said.

Chelmsford Police Chief Colin Spence told WCVB that Fredericks was with other members of the police department, who are trained as EMTs and were able to provide care before and during the rescue.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time,” Spence told WCVB.

“We are happy that our officers had the advanced medical training that they have and were able to provide that assistance,” he added. “We would like to express our thanks to all of the departments involved in the rescue effort.”