He carried blood up a mountain and saved a dad

Will Soper covered roughly 1,000 feet of elevation over a mile and a half in about 30 minutes to reach a dying climber on North Carolina's Shortoff Mountain, carrying a backpack of blood bags packed in ice. Jacob Gregory, a father leading an ascent with his son, had fallen 20 feet and was bleeding internally by the time first responders reached him. Soper, a 28-year-old EMT with Burke Rescue Inc. and SAR, was two hours away teaching a training course when he heard the dispatch. He drove to the trailhead, started up, then turned back when radio word came that Gregory needed a transfusion. He wants to correct the record on one thing. "In all honesty, 'run' is a little bit hyperbolic," he told Outside. "I maintained a fast hiking or jogging pace and made sure I didn't stop for any breaks." More than 20 agencies answered the call. Gregory was flown to Atrium Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.