TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – In the South Valley, first responders pulled off an extraordinary helicopter rescue saving a missing hiker who had been trapped for days behind a dangerous waterfall.

Authorities say 46-year-old Ryan Wardwell fell and became stranded in a remote area known as the “Seven Teacups” on the Kern River.

Tulare County Sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Kemmerling said the rescue involved a helicopter and infrared technology and in the end, it all paid off.

“So the Teacups is kind of a remote area that’s up on the Kern River,” Kemmerling explained. 

Wardwell and his friends had set out on Sunday, Aug. 11, planning to rappel down the raging, technical waterfalls.

Once on site, four members of the group decided it was too dangerous and beyond their skill level, turning back. Wardwell chose to continue alone.

“After a lot of talking back and forth, the other four basically went home and left him up there alone,” Kemmerling said.

Wardwell soon became trapped. His friends were able to call for help, but with high water flows creating a major drowning hazard, rescuers initially feared the mission would become a recovery effort rather than a rescue.

“Because it was three days that he had been back there, we thought that if he hadn’t drowned, he probably would have been subjected to exposure and maybe not survived,” Kemmerling said.

To their surprise, Wardwell was alive able to move and communicate with rescuers via drone.

A Tulare County Sheriff’s Office helicopter crew risked it all to hoist him to safety.

Kemmerling noted that three people drowned in the exact same location last year, making Wardwell’s survival all the more remarkable.

He is recovering and expected to be ok.