Help! We’ve fallen and we can’t get up!

On Sunday October 27th my brother received the worst phone call of all of our lives. It was San Juan Search and Rescue calling to say they had emergently choppered our mom and step dad out of a canyon in Utah and delivered them to St Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction,CO.

This story is so unbelievable it’s best told straight from the source. Here’s the account of the accident from Karen herself:

Kim and Zephyr and I were in an accident Sunday October 27th. We are happy to be alive. It was a nightmare.
 
We were in the boonies of Utah, west of Blanding, where Kim and I have gone many times. It is very isolated, which is why we like it. We brought our friends from Hawaii ( I think a few of you know Ning Cabiles-and her boyfriend Curtis was with her.) We hiked down into the canyon with Zephyr, and were hiking toward some Anasazi ruins. Zephyr had on a harness. He got up on a very high boulder, and started to slip off the side, as some of the rocks had wet spots. I grabbed his harness with my left hand and tried to pull him back. Ning grabbed my right hand with her left and grabbed onto some roots that were sticking out of some other rocks ,with her right. I was calling to Kim, “help me, help me.” He tried to get across the rock to us but hit a wet spot and fell. At the same time the roots pulled out of the rock and Ning lost her grip on me. Zephyr and I both fell off the rock at this time. Kim and I fell about 20 feet, hit a ledge, bounced off and fell another 20 feet or so into a rocky ravine. Kim broke his left femur which now has a titanium rod in it. He also broke his sacrum, his left shoulder, his left wrist and a rib. I broke my neck at C2, and my back at T6 and T7. We both have serious contusions and abrasions all over our bodies. Ning and Curtis got down to us and tried to help us, but Kim was totally immobile and I was in great pain when I moved. They hiked back out of the canyon and called 911 on the one bar of service they had. Ning ran 10 miles out to the road to meet the rescuers and show them where we were. Eventually they got about 12 people into the canyon to stabilize us, give us pain meds and keep us warm as we both were in shock, and to figure out how they were going to get us out. Zephyr fell to the first ledge and stuck there. He has many abrasions and some nerve damage in his right, front paw. He’s barely able to walk on it, the vet says because he doesn’t know it’s there-he can’t feel it. He may have to have surgery.
The wonderful rescue crew got us stabilized and then put us on flat boards and carried us up about 49 feet in the loose rock and to the bottom of the top cliff. They had set up a pulley system and hooked us in (one at a time-Kim first as he was in more pain and I believe his femur was sticking out by his knee.) They then pulleyed us up a 50-70 ft. sheer cliff, and carried us to the two Flight for Life helicopters that were on top. It took them about 7 hours to get us out of the canyon. They flew us to Grand Junction and the ER.
We were so lucky that Ning and C were with us, or as Jeanette said, we would have died in the canyon, as no one would have found us.
I am not paralyzed at all and Doc says will eventually heal naturally. Obviously, I’m hurting all over. Kim is catching a ride back to Denver tomorrow and will have hand surgery at Swedish sometime this week.
We are grateful to the search and rescue and flight team for pulling off a difficult rescue, and to the wonderful doctors and nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital.
From here we deal with all the hospital, insurance, work outages, disability, and recovery.

And that’s the story...a nightmare!

I was in pretty good shape beforehand and think I will recover quickly. But have to wear a neck brace for 8-10 weeks, and am not allowed to bend, lift or twist for quite some time. Kim’s recovery will be longer. We’re looking forward to getting the hand surgery over with and eventually back home.

Things like this make you really appreciate life and good health, along with loving and caring family, friends, and rescuers. Life can change in a minute. Thank you to all those who have reached out to us. We’re so glad to be here. ❤️❤️❤️

So many of you have been reaching out to all of us and wondering what you can do to help... THIS IS IT!! Throughout this horrific ordeal the main concern for Kim and Karen has been the medical bills accruing for both them and Zehyr. Between 2 Flight for Life helicopter rides, multiple hospital stays, multiple surgeries, and plenty of vet visits, the costs of this hiking excursion are adding up. We are so grateful for everyone thinking of us and helping ALL of us though this challenging time in our lives. We appreciate you!