CONTACT:
CO Sgt. Matthew Holmes
603-788-4850
603-271-3361
July 23, 2025
Shelburne, NH – At approximately 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers were notified of a solo hiker who had experienced a medical emergency on the Rattle River Trail in Shelburne. A bystander who witnessed the hiker become unresponsive made an immediate call to 911 and subsequently began providing CPR.
Based on the severity of the medical emergency that was believed to have occurred, and the location being 3 miles from the nearest road, a call to the Army National Guard was made requesting their assistance. A helicopter crew was quickly formed and began responding from their hangar in Concord. At the same time, a Conservation Officer began hiking to the location of the incident on Rattle River Trail.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., the Army National Guard Blackhawk Helicopter and its crew were able to extract the injured hiker from the remote mountainside location and transport him to an awaiting Gorham EMS Ambulance at the Gorham Municipal Airport. Gorham EMS and Gorham Fire Department, along with Gorham Police, assisted with the patient transfer.
Despite the best efforts of all involved, the hiker, identified as Daniel Sweet, 62, of Hammond, NY, succumbed to the medical event he sustained while hiking and was pronounced dead.