A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s helicopter rescued a teacher leading students on a hike to Eaton Canyon waterfall after she fell Monday and ended up with a pencil jammed into her back less than an inch from her spine.

The woman, one of two teachers accompanying children on the popular hiking trail above Altadena in the Angeles National Forest, was climbing over some rocks when she slipped and fell, deputies said. The teacher’s pencil plunged about three inches into her lower back, about a half inch from her spine, deputies said.

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The Altadena Mountain Rescue Team was called at about 12:20 p.m. to bring the 35-year-old woman to safety. A rescue helicopter took her out of the canyon and to Huntington Memorial Hospital for treatment.


The Eaton Canyon trail is among the most accessible in the Los Angeles region but produces a steady number of injuries that result in the need for rescues.

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