Main fundraiser photo

Jenna's Recovery

When you think about fly fishing... Life threatening injury doesn't come to mind, right??

On August 25th, my niece Jenna was fishing the Weber River @ Weber Canyon near Ogden, Utah.  She was with her boyfriend and his father. As she & her boyfriend hiked up an embankment, a boulder gave way underneath Jenna's foot. It caused a chain reaction and a rockslide came down on her. She was swept up in a cloud of dirt, rocks and debris. In the process of falling with the rockslide, several boulders and rocks hit her and she slammed into the rocky terrain as she fell. Jenna's pelvis was broken to pieces. The force of the rockslide pushed her into the river.

Her boyfriend witnessed the accident and ran to where she was in the river. Jenna's injuries were serious and she was not able to move herself. Her boyfriend carefully lifted her out of the water and onto the riverbank. If she had been alone, she could have drowned. It took emergency crews about 45 minutes to get to her location & assist in the situation. The paramedics & rescue crew placed her on a backboard and used a winch to lift her out of the canyon as they hiked next to her to stabilize her.

She was sent to the Hospital in Ogden, and then later transferred to University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. She underwent surgery to repair a shattered pelvis, crushed sacroiliac. Her kneecap was broken and she also has small fractures in her spine.

As you can imagine, all of those rocks caused some painful bruises, a bad hematoma, and some cuts & scrapes. At the time of the accident she was wearing overall-style fishing waders that may have protected her from further injury. They were shredded to pieces and nearly torn off of her from all of the debris that hit her. It was very lucky that she was not paralyzed or killed from head injury or internal bleeding.

Hiking and fishing are among Jenna's favorite hobbies. She and her boyfriend are both experienced outdoor enthusiasts. The trauma has been quite a shock to her, and her family. We are all reminded that even when we are skilled and cautious, accidents sometimes just happen. We are so sad this has happened to her.

In her words: "My life dramatically changed last week and it has been difficult for me to accept the reality of a trauma injury. Remember the old saying, “In the blink of an eye?” The idiom never meant much to me until now. I was caught in a rockslide on Sunday and ended up with a broken pelvis, crushed sacroiliac, fractured knee, and fractures on my spine. I’ve been in the hospital for over a week and now I’ll be recovering at my moms for several months. I’m blessed to be alive, but I cringe at the long road of recovery ahead of me".

❤️ Jenna does not have health insurance, so she is going to need a little help. Let's join together and do what we can. Thank you so much if you can donate, every contribution will go towards Jenna's recovery.

Organizer

Marian Olson Boag
Organizer
Idaho Falls, ID

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