Lincolnton man rescued after falling down steep embankment

Emergency crews rescued a Lincolnton man late Tuesday who fell down a steep embankment while looking for cover from a storm.

Tony Mitchell Weathers, 63, failed to return home from an afternoon hike on the South Fork Rail Trail off Laboratory Road, prompting his wife to call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office about 9 p.m.

Two sheriff’s deputies and a family friend found Weathers about 1 1/2 miles down the trail. He had slipped off the edge of the trail and injured his left leg, investigators said.

The 2-mile trail runs along the South Fork of the Catawba River in the 324-acre Rhyne Preserve.

Lincoln County EMS and firefighters from the South Fork Volunteer Fire Department helped lift Weathers out on a backboard. He was taken to Carolinas HealthCare System Lincoln for treatment and was expected to be OK.

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Lincolnton man rescued after falling down steep embankment."