A suicidal 21-year-old Pratt man voluntarily committed himself to Larned State Hospital after he was rescued from a tree early Sunday morning in Pratt County.

The man, whose identity will not be released, had threatened suicide to his employer on Monday, July 14 but he did not harm himself and that incident was not reported, said Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn.

On Saturday the man told a fellow employee he was going to hang himself and rode away on his bicycle. The Pratt County Sheriff’s Department was notified at 9:10 p.m. and within minutes a sheriff’s deputy found his bicycle by the bridge just north of the Waldeck elevator on NE 70th Ave., Chinn said. 

After a two-hour plus search the man was located at approximately 11:30 p.m. He was calling for help from 30 to 40 feet up in a tree that was north and east of where his bicycle was found.

Pratt County Emergency Services and Township 12 fire department were summoned as well as a bucket truck from Adams Electric Company to rescue the man from the tree. Extensive amounts of brush had to be removed and the truck had to be pulled to the tree with a tractor before the man could be safely removed from the tree.

The rescue was complete at about 3 a.m. on Sunday, July 20. The man’s employer from Pratt, whose identity will also not be released, transported the man to Larned State Hospital where he voluntarily committed himself.

“The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Adams Electric, Pratt County EMS, Pratt County Township 12 Fire Department, and the citizens who helped in this search and rescue,” Chinn said.