A 20-year-old woman who was swept away by the Youghiogheny River current Sunday in Ohiopyle State Park was rescued by a 21-year-old woman in her group, according to park manager Ken Bisbee.
The two women were able to get to safety on a rock just before the 20-foot-high falls near the Fayette County park’s visitors center. Firefighters, river guides and park rangers rescued them about 30 yards upriver from the falls, Bisbee said.
The 20-year-old woman was part of a group wading in a restricted area of the river where such activity is prohibited. At 5:45 p.m., she lost her footing, got caught in the current and lost consciousness, Bisbee said. She was taken by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. She is expected to be OK, he said.
The 21-year-old woman was taken to Uniontown Hospital with minor injuries. They were rescued across the river from the visitors center.
The area where the woman was wading has safety rings and warning signs.
“We ask people not to be in the river below that buoy line,” Bisbee said.
Park rangers have been stationed around Ohiopyle to be able to respond quickly in the event of an emergency, while construction in town causes traffic headaches, Bisbee said. That helped rangers get to the scene fast, and Bisbee said he was relieved the women were OK.
Six people from Pittsburgh and Monroeville survived after their raft went over the falls July 13. They all had life vests on and were rescued from the river after apparently missing signs that advise boaters to exit the water and warn of the waterfall.
Boats are prohibited as the river winds into Ohiopyle.
Two Ohiopyle whitewater rafting guides were awarded Carnegie Hero medals last year for rescuing two women in 2017. Eric Martin and Patrick Nolan McCarty, both of Ohiopyle, rescued Arnetta D. Johnson, 55, and Raecyne W. Bechtold, 45, when their whitewater raft overturned on the Youghiogheny River.
The two women flowed past the take-out point on June 26, 2017, and became stuck at a bridge pier in the middle of the river. The two men took single-person kayaks without safety gear and rescued the pair before the waterfall.
