A group of Fairbanks paddlers is being credited with saving the life of a teen-ager during a trip down the Gulkana.
Doctors, rescuers and family members say if the paddlers hadn't come to the aid of Kraig Hammond he would have died.
The Fairbanks News-Miner reports the group was a couple of days into a five-day trip when they encountered 17-year-old Kraig Hammond and his father, Rick.
The father asked for their help, explaining that the teen had injured his knee, but it became swollen and inflamed during their trip and he was showing other signs of infection.
They made Kraig and Rick part of their group and then signaled for help with an emergency beacon.
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson sent a helicopter. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors say he arrived just in time.
Contact Neil Torquiano
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Fairbanks Paddlers Credited with Rescue of Teen
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