Man Dies After Being Rescued from Tree in Clarkesville

In Habersham County, a man hospitalized after being rescued from a tree has died.

Public Information Officer for the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, Rob Moore, the man, identified as 74-year-old Leonard Highsmith of Rabun County died from his injuries late Tuesday afternoon.

Moore said units from Habersham County Emergency Services and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office responded just after 1p Monday to a vacant property on Montego Bay in Clarkesville on a report of a person stuck in a tree going in and out of consciousness.

When units arrived , they found the man stuck about 20 feet up in a tree who was moving but was not responding to verbal commands.

When the ladder truck arrived crews started working to reach him.

When they reached him they were able to assess the extent of his injuries and he was subsequently airlifted to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

Moore told WLHR News it is believed Highsmith climbed the tree in an attempt to trim limbs and somehow became entangled.

He said Highsmith died from complications of a serious leg injury he suffered while cutting the tree.