Rescuer Sues Hiker Who He Helped Rescue

A volunteer rescuer is suing a hiker for injuries he sustained while attempting to rescue her.

Nick Papageorge, 20, was part of a crew that set out to find 18-year-old Kyndall Jack and friend Nik Cendoya, 19, when the two went missing last year in the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County, Calif.

Papageorge was one of hundreds of people who searched for the pair over four days. Both Jack and Cendoya were eventually found dazed and dehydrated, and Jack clams she was hallucinating much of the time she was missing in the Trabuco Canyon area.

Now, the O.C. Registerreports that Papageorge is suing Jack for damages stemming from the rescue. Papageorge says that he fell 110 feet down a cliff and broke his back, leading to over $500,000 in medical expenses from his injuries, which included 11 screws and two titanium rods in his back.

Papageorge’s lawsuit claims that Jack “created the emergency situation through her own negligence.”

Cendoya, Jack’s hiking companion, pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession following the rescue. Cendoya is not named in Papageorge’s lawsuit.

Read more: The O.C. Register