Harrison Ford the Hero: The Woman He Rescued With His Helicopter Tells Her Story

Harrison Ford is recovering after crash landing his plane onto a golf course Thursday. While the 72-year-old actor is expected to make a full recovery, we tracked down a woman Ford once saved to highlight his amazing aviation career.

NEWS: Harrison Ford Twice Rescued Lost Hikers in His Own Helicopter

Sarah George, now Sarah Hurst, was rescued by Ford, who was piloting a helicopter, in late July 2000 after she'd suffered dehydration and altitude sickness during a hike off the Table Mountain in Teton County, Wyo. (altitude 11,106 ft.) Harrison's accident brought back memories of that day for the now 34-year-old Sarah, who told ETonline about her experience, including that awkward moment when she threw up in Hans Solo's helicopter.

"My friend Megan and I decided to go hike Table Rock, the mountain that overlooks the Grand Tetons, beautiful hike."

It was a tough hike but Sarah and Megan made it to the top. That's when Sarah began throwing up, and realized she would need some help. In such a remote location, it can be difficult to get cell service, but Sarah, with the assistance of other hikers, finally got a signal out to an emergency response helicopter. Harrison Ford's helicopter, not that she recognized him at first.

"It totally threw me off -- he was wearing, I believe it was a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap or something," she remembers. "And I thought, 'I don't know any football players.'"

To be fair, Sarah, sick and dehydrated was probably not in the best mental state to be remembering faces — even the most famous ones. However, she does very clearly remember what happened next.

"I did get nauseous, and threw up in the helicopter. Which was his," Sarah recalls. "Lucky, I made it into a hat."

Yes, we did ask if it was Harrison Ford's Dallas Cowboys hat. No, it was not.

One thing Sarah did take away from the experience was a lifelong fandom to Harrison's movies. Her favorites are the Indiana Jones franchise, but she'll pretty much see anything he's in at this point.

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"I've got to go see it, he rescued me!" she says, proving the Indiana Jones actor just might be the best experiential marketer ever.

What's really cool is how Harrison, a Jackson Hole resident at the time, made himself available to the county sheriff to help out on rescue missions. "Hiring those type of services is really expensive,” Sarah explains. "So, he just told the EMS crew, 'Hey, I'm here. If something happens and I'm home, I'm more than willing to help."

As for Thursday’s crash when it was Ford that needed the rescuing, Sarah heard about it from her brother.

"I'm glad that he's okay," she says. "It brought back memories, of course."

WATCH: Harrison Ford in Fair Condition After Crashing Plane

As for what would she say to Harrison now, Sarah tells us, "I'd thank him for his time and for his health. And I'm glad to know that he's doing okay."

It sounds like he made a real impact on and off the screen.

Sarah, 20-years-old when this all took place, worked as a Registered Nurse and now resides in Winnemucca, Nev. with her husband and daughter.

Way back in 1999, Harrison stressed the importance of safety in the air to ET. Watch the video below.


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