Maine wardens, forest rangers and volunteer rescue personnel ready a 15-year-old boy to be hoisted to a helicopter on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Maine game wardens rescued a 15-year-old boy who fractured his leg in a fall on Tumbledown Mountain Sunday afternoon, calling in a Maine Forest Service helicopter to get him off the mountain.

Kyle Lund, 15, of Dixfield, was hiking off trail with a friend on a steep section of Tumbledown near the Loop Trail when he slipped and fell about 60 feet, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Lund sustained a compound fracture of his left leg around 1:50 p.m., Latti said.

The game wardens were helped by volunteers from Franklin Search and Rescue, Mahoosuc Mountain Rescue, and members of the Weld, Wilton and Carthage fire departments. Rescuers had to hike more than a mile up the mountain to reach Lund.

Due to the severity of his fracture, the rescue team decided to fly Lund off the mountain using a Maine Forest Service helicopter. To effect the extrication, wardens and emergency service personnel secured Lund to a backboard and carried him up the mountain a short distance to reach an open area. Lund was then hoisted into the helicopter via cable just after 5 p.m. Sunday. Lund was initially taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital before being transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Tumbledown Mountain is a popular hiking destination in western Maine. It is located near the town of Byron in Franklin County. The mountain is 3,012 feet high and most of the summit trails are steep and challenging.

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