WATCH: Abandoned Migrant Rescued from Arizona Canyon near Border

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew and Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents rescued an abandoned female migrant from a steep canyon near the Arizona border with Mexico. Video released by CBP shows the aircrew lifting the woman from the canyon floor and transporting her to safety.

Dispatchers at the Arizona Air Coordination Center received a 911 call transferred from the Tohono O’odham Police Department at about 2:30 Wednesday morning regarding a migrant woman who was lost in a canyon. The woman said she was alone and unable to walk, according to information obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

After obtaining GPS information from the woman’s cell phone, officials determined the woman was stranded deep in the Baboquivari Mountain Range about 13 miles north of the state’s border with Mexico. Border Patrol agents traveled to the woman’s last known position and began a search.

Despite the darkness and rugged terrain, agents found the woman by about 7 a.m. The agents learned the woman suffered from severe leg pain and dehydration. The agents determined they could not extract the woman by ground and called for an Air and Marine Operations UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew to lift her out.

The terrain was too rugged for the helicopter to land, officials stated. The AMO aircrew lowered a 125-foot hoist to the agents below. The crew lifted the woman up and an AMO rescue specialist EMT evaluated her condition. The EMT stabilized the woman and determined she required a higher level of medical care.

The Black Hawk crew transported her to a nearby Border Patrol interior immigration checkpoint where the AMO EMT continued to provide care until an ambulance arrived to take her to a hospital.

“CBP components will move heaven and earth to find someone who is lost, injured or unable to continue,” Tucson Sector Interim Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin said in a written statement. “All too often, like today, migrants are wearing camouflage and avoiding being seen until it’s too late. Luckily this woman was able to call for help, and we were able to determine her location.”

It is likely the woman was abandoned by a human smuggler and her travel companions when she became unable to keep up.

Tucson Air Branch Deputy Director Hunter Robinson added, “Luckily, this woman was equipped with a cell phone and was able to call for help. Deep in the Baboquivari Mountains, a cell phone signal can mean the difference between life and death.”