On Friday, December 22nd, the first day of my Christmas holiday vacation, I decided to start my time off with a hike of Black Hill, something I have done almost daily since moving to Morro Bay seven years ago.
After scaling the the hill and coming back down to the “easy” line trail heading south towards South Bay Blvd, about a 1/2 mile from the State Park entrance on Balboa on a relatively slight downhill, somehow my left foot slipped in mud from recent rains, but my right foot grabbed and the result was my right leg folding under my full weight resulting in ripping my quadriceps tendon in three locations and basically leaving me unable to move at all from laying half on the trail and half in the brush.
Fortunately, I was able to access my phone and get a hold of my wife who immediately contacted 911 and in turn the great folks of the Morro Bay Fire Department.
This letter is really just my opportunity to publicly thank the fantastic response and care that I received from the four Fire Dept. members, and one state park ranger that rescued me. They are:
Capt. Michael Talmadge
Engineer Kevin Hames
Engineer Mike Kelly
Firefighter Tanner Russell
Ranger Tyler David
All trained and reporting to Fire Chief Dan McCrain of the Morro Bay Fire Department and Supervising State Park Peace Officer Roger Colligan for the State Park.
They took me out 1/2 mile on a one wheel balloon tire gurney and got me to the ambulance within 30 minutes of my accident, and I had a successful surgery at French Hospital and with Dr. Sean Devine within 24 hours.
I have never had to experience emergency response like this (and I hope I never do again,) but I want to go on record to first say thank you but also to let the community know how lucky we ALL are to have public servants like those mentioned above.
Ray Riordan
2023 board chair,
Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce
