Utah Football Team Rescues Climber Dangling by Her Hair on Cliffside

A Utah college football team is being hailed as heroes after rescuing a woman whose hair got tangled in climbing gear and left her dangling on a cliffside for an agonizing 45 minutes. On the top of the cliff, the teammates from Dixie State University were captured on camera hauling her up, tug of war style.

The drama unfolded on a formation in Southern Utah known as Dixie Rock. It's a popular hiking spot for the team. Video shows the woman being carefully hoisted up, and you can see that her hair is tangled up in the climbing gear.

"We play a team sport and to do that in a real life situation really helped us out," one of the players told Inside Edition.

An Arizona police commander first came upon the rock climber. 

"I said 'Hey, here's the situation.' I said, 'Can I borrow some of your football players, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, as muscle to help get her up on the cliff?'" Chandler Police Commander Scott Veach told Inside Edition. "Once we got her up to the edge, I was able to grab hold of her harness and kind of lift her up on the edge."

The woman was identified only as "Claudia." She was severely dehydrated when she reached the top. 

Although their college football season has been suspended because of the pandemic, the teammates have proved themselves as the definition of teamwork.

"Everybody just kind of pitched in. It was impressive. I couldn't have done it without them," Veach said.

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