Clinton Resident Dies While Hiking In New Hampshire

CLINTON, CT — A 70-year-old local man died Monday after collapsing while hiking in New Hampshire, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Officials identified the hiker as Richard Perrault, 70, of Clinton.

Perrault had been hiking solo Monday around 1:30 p.m. on the Valley Way Trail in Low & Burbanks Grant, a township in White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, when he collapsed.

Bystanders saw Perrault collapse and got to him immediately, but he was unresponsive, according to the department. The witnesses called 911 and began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, officials said.

The Army National Guard was contacted for help because of the severity of the medical emergency and because the location is about 2.9 miles from the nearest road, the department said, in a press release.

While emergency personnel and Fish and Game Department conservation officers began hiking to the location, a helicopter crew formed to respond also.

Around 3:15 p.m., an Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter and its crew extracted Perrault from the mountainside location and took him to a waiting Gorham EMS ambulance at the Gorham Municipal Airport.

Gorham EMS, fire and police personnel assisted with transferring the patient, but he died as a result of the medical event he suffered, according to the department.