A 16-year-old girl injured Tuesday working on the Pole Creek Trail was cleared to work again the next day, but her supervisor gave her the day off.

The young woman fell approximately 100 feet down a steep, rocky, forested hill while working to restore parts of the trail damaged by the Pole Creek Fire in September 2012. A worker with the Northwest Youth Corps, she was at first thought to be seriously injured and was medevaced by helicopter to St. Charles Bend.

According to Jeff Parker, executive director of the corps, she excused herself during a lunch break to find a place to relieve herself. She laid her hardhat down, putting the bill in the direction she left the trail as per corps rules. When she was climbing back up, she slipped on the rock face and fell down the hill, landing unconscious near a boulder.

“This is just one of those freak accidents,” Parker said. “It’s great to see a quick response by everyone involved.”

Chris Sabo, U.S. Forest Service wilderness ranger and crew leader, heard of the accident and rushed to tend to her. The fallen crew member awoke after a few minutes and was able to identify where she had pain, Sabo said.

“All the symptoms at that point were leading to things such as spinal injuries,” he said. “She came to and said where she was hurting — head, spine, legs.”

Sabo said the situation called for a medevac due to the potential extent of the young woman’s injuries and the difficulty navigating the trail.

“There are so many unknowns out here,” he said. “Injuries like this require advanced medical care as soon as possible. Especially when the fall had such an unknown nature to it.”

However, the worker sustained only minor injuries and left the hospital after two hours. Sabo expects her to return soon to a light workload. Her medical expenses were covered by workmen’s compensation, Parker said.

The Northwest Youth Corps, based out of Eugene, has more than 1,100 youth workers over five states. Of the 36 injuries reported over the past two years, all but one were minor such as bites, cuts, sprains and poison oak, Parker said. The one exception was a fractured leg sustained during a weekend retreat.