A 28-year-old man was saved after falling from a cliff and suffering puncture wounds to his head.

The man was in the Green Mountain area of Kitsap County, about 17 miles west of Bremerton, on Sunday, Oct. 5, at about 1,500 feet of elevation. When he fell and hit his head, he was knocked unconscious.

A search and rescue team from NAS Whidbey Island rescued him and flew him by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“Every second counted on this one,” said Lt. Cole Heller, helicopter aircraft commander, in a news release. “The survivor was in extremely bad shape.”

Whidbey’s search and rescue team has conducted 22 missions and three medical evacuations this year, saving 37 lives.