Over the more than 40 years Ted Smartt has lived on the brow of Signal Mountain with the bluff practically in his backyard, he has on numerous occasions heard sirens as rescue workers rushed to save people who have fallen off the bluff. Most, he said, were hikers on the nearby Mabbitt Springs trail to the waterfall.
He never imagined the sirens would one day be coming for him.
“I thought only careless people fell off the bluff,” he said.
But this past November, Friday the 13th proved itself to be an especially unlucky day for Smartt.
The way the bluff near his home is situated, one is able to walk down on the rocks a little ways. He had spotted a dog that appeared to be stuck on a rock and unable to climb to safety, so Smartt climbed down to the rock to pull him up.
The dog was able to climb to solid ground, but Smartt was not so lucky. He lost his footing and grabbed onto a vine, where he hung for several moments while yelling for his wife to call 911 before falling 45 feet into a pile of dead trees and limbs.
“I knew I couldn’t get back up or hold on long enough with one hand for them to get here,” he said.
He said Waldens Ridge Emergency Service, as well as other agencies, arrived on the scene quickly, and three people rappelled down to where he had landed. The rescue took about two hours, and while Smartt was badly bruised, he had no serious injuries.
“These people are volunteers, and they’re well qualified and well trained,” Smartt said of his rescuers from WRES. “I’ve got high praises that we have that service here.”
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.