[Westside]

While many Madison County residents were ringing in the New Year popping champagne corks and surrounded by friends, one woman was fighting for her life after a New Year's Eve hike turned disastrous and she plunged approximately 60 feet off a cliff on the East Pinnacle Trail, a popular hiking destination in Berea.

The woman told Berea Fire and Rescue crews she went out for the ill-fated hike around 6 p.m. Sunday evening, and fell around 7 or 7:30 p.m., according to Battalion Chief Doug Sandlin.

Remaining in the elements throughout the night, with temperatures dipping as low as eight degrees, the woman was found by hikers early Monday who heard her calls for help, Sandlin said.

"She was lucky someone heard her," Madison County EMS Director Carlos Coyle said, whose agency was dispatched around 7:36 a.m.

At the scene, Sandlin said crews were able to reach the victim, who was in the beginning stages of hypothermia, but were unable to walk her out. Ropes were put on a Stokes basket/stretcher and she was pulled out by emergency workers, the battalion chief explained.

Coyle said the woman, who was in her mid-fifties, was awake and had potentially serious injuries, but they didn't appear to be life threatening. She was transported to University of Kentucky Hospital around 10:58 a.m.

Berea Fire Department, Berea Rescue and Madison County EMS were assisted at the scene by Berea Police Department, Kentucky State Police and Madison County Sheriff's Office.

http://www.richmondregister.com/news/wom...32c59.html