A 73-year-old Kentucky man has died from injuries suffered in a fall while hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Park officials say their dispatch office received a report about 5:30 pm. Friday from Blount County (Tennessee) Emergency Dispatch that the man had suffered injuries due to a fall while hiking with his wife on the Schoolhouse Gap Trail about seven miles from the park’s Townsend Entrance.
Rangers responded to Schoolhouse Gap Trail but were unable to locate the victim. At about 6:10 p.m. the victim’s wife called again to report that the incident had occurred while the couple was hiking on the Chestnut Top Trail, which begins just inside the park boundary near the Townsend Entrance, approximately 5 miles from the location originally reported.
Rangers arrived at the scene and located the victim, Robert Lyons, of Louisville, Ken. who was sitting by the side of the Park’s Townsend Entrance Road. Mr. Lyons reported that he and his wife, Judith Lyons, had hiked just a few hundred yards up Chestnut Top Trail, intending to hike out at Schoolhouse Gap Trail when thunderstorms rolled in and they turned back towards their car.
He stumbled off the trail and tumbled approximately 20 feet down a steep slope and suffered some possible back injuries. The man told rangers he was able to continue down the slope on his own and eventually reached the road where he met park rangers. He was conscious at the scene but reported suffering back pain and agreed to be transported by ambulance.
Rangers called a Rural Metro ambulance which arrived at about 6:40 p.m. and transported Mr. Lyons to Townsend where he was transferred to LIFESTAR helicopter and on to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville.
The park was notified at approximately 11:00 p.m. that Lyons had died of apparent blunt trauma to the chest at 10:20 p.m. No autopsy is planned.
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Comments
Sad, but there are worse ways to go.
I knew Robert and his wife, Judy. My wife and I have hiked many trails with them . They are excellent botanists and have wide knowledge of wildflowers in the southeast US. Knowing the two of them, I am sure they were on a hike to view pink and yellow ladyslippers which are known on that trail. I will miss Robert and his gentle kindness. My sympathies are with his family.