Good NewsIdaho hiker rescued after being trapped under granite boulder for nine hours
Ammi Midstokke, 36, was hiking on Chimney Rock in Northern Idaho on Friday, when a large granite boulder shifted under her weight and gave way, hitting her in the head and then landing on her foot.
She was pinned under the 1.5-ton rock, unable to move.
"I tried to scramble out of the way, but I was a little delirious from the first impact," Midstokke told local ABC affiliate KXLY.
Midstokke’s hiking partner, paramedic Jason Luthy, tried to nudge the boulder off her but failed. He called 911.
"Once the rock stopped moving I knew I was OK, I was concerned about hypothermia, but I thought we had the right gear. With the safety blanket and the means to make fire you’re pretty much going to be OK, and that’s what is an important lesson for everybody is when you plan to go out you need to have those things," Midstokke, an experienced outdoorswoman, told KXLY.
Due to the rocky and narrow terrain, it took Priest Lake Search and Rescue officials nine hours to reach the hikers’ remote location.
"After about six hours I was starting to deal with the growing reality that I might lose my foot," Midstokke said.
The rescue team used a rope and pulley system to lift the boulder off Midstokke’s foot which she later described on Facebook as “very deformed” and “dead looking.”
"This was the most technically difficult rescue we’ve done," Mike Nielsen, commander of Priest Lake Search and Rescue, told the Spokesman-Review.
"Rescuers had to cross a crumbling rock ledge that was only 10 inches in some places with packs on, in the dark, with only headlamps. That’s why it took so long to access her."
Because Midstokke was unable to hike out of the wilderness with the team, the rescuers waited another seven hours until dawn, when a rescue helicopter would be able to spot them and air-lift the injured woman to the closest hospital.
"It was apparent that hiking out wasn’t an option, so we hunkered down until the Air Force could lift me out after daylight. Initial X-rays show tarsal breakage but a remarkably whole foot. We’ll know more later this week. I couldn’t have hoped for a more competent adventuring partner or a better group of rescuers. You guys are all my heroes!!!" Midstokke wrote on Facebook.
"She was smiling and thankful and cheery like she always is," said one of the rescuers, Glen Cassidy.
"There are always people who will need help, and if we have the ability to help, we should," said Captain Josiah Hart, 36th RQF co-pilot. “Without our capabilities, Ms. Midstokke may have had a difficult time being rescued. It was truly a team effort to rescue her on Saturday. We believe in our mission, and it is reflected in the Air Force Rescue motto ‘That Others May Live!’”
Two days after her rescue, Midstokke shared a photo of an X-ray of her foot on Facebook with some good news:
"The foot stays!!! Doctor says to move that bad ass appendage and keep the blood flowing. Aqua jogging never sounded so sweet. Gonna do laps around the geriatrics!"
(Photos via Facebook)
