A hiker was taken to a trauma center after a cactus struck her in the head on the Bell Pass Trail in Scottsdale on Saturday morning. Crews from Scottsdale Fire and Phoenix Fire reached the woman just after 7 a.m. on Oct. 17 and got her off steep terrain for treatment.
The report sent responders to the trail after officials received word that a woman had been hit by the desert plant. She was found roughly two miles from the trailhead, where paramedic e-bike teams were able to reach her and begin care on scene.
The rescue took more than ordinary trail access. In steep ground that would have slowed a standard response, crews used a Big Wheel and UTV to move the injured hiker out of the area and to a nearby trauma center for evaluation.
What made the call harder to read was the absence of an explanation. Officials did not say what led up to the strike, or how the cactus may have fallen, leaving the cause of the injury unclear even as responders focused on getting her to care.
Her current condition and exact injury have not been disclosed. What is known is that the injury happened on the Bell Pass Trail in Scottsdale, needed a coordinated response from two fire crews, and ended with the hiker in a trauma center rather than on the mountain.
