an unforgetable night at sacajawea hotsprings

[shenrie]

there were 4 of us total. before those guys took off phil had mentioned that I could go into town (45 min away), but its a mountain town with maybe a couple hundred full time residents at best. he said I should stay put and focus on her. if she took a turn for the worse, he said to head that way and try to find first responders. if they wernt available, there was a phone booth and to call lifeflight as boise was 2.5 hours of drive time away. its not that we were comfortable not going for help, we were just so isolated that we needed to focus on getting her stable again before making any decisions. waiting was not an option. I use the term we very loosly. phil was making the decisions. I just did as instructed.

and yes, how all our and their random decisions that night brought us all together is inconceivable. big man above, or whatever you believe in... fate, luck... I cant say, but someone was looking out for my wife. she actually had an out of body experience while this all went down. she said she was watching us scramble on the rocks that night trying to save her. she said she could feel our helplessness. according to her, it was her great aunt that was poking at Zach to check on her. someone she had never met on this world. if she ever sits down and puts her side of this story to words, I will post it up. it will never make as much sense to anyone reading, but what she had to say from her perspective about what she witnessed from where she was stands the hairs up...

 

[gtbensley]

Just reading this makes my hair stand up! Glad you are both doing well and able to continue the weekends plans.

 

[shenrie]

^^^ thank you, we appreciate that! my wife is a trooper bout everything, I seriously lucked out finding her to begin with. id be lost without her by my side. I don't know what I would have done if this story didn't end like it did. don't even really want to think about that, lol.

it stands the hairs up on me reading phil and zachs accounts. even though ive read them both many times. first time I made the mistake of reading phils account at work. turned me into a sobbing mess for about 30 min. I get drawn into the story each time and cant stop reading. its like I cant help myself but to read through it again and again. not quite sure how to view my actions. I find it very strange I am that way about reading the story.

 

[4x4x4doors]

Wow. Just wow.

 

[andysgreenxj]

Unbelievable...wow! I am so glad that your wife is all good...I would have freaked right out! Thank God for the guys being there to help you bring her back. Again, very happy to her that there were no lasting side affects...

 

[unkamonkey]

Medical people or at least some of them can send things off to another part of their mind and do what is correct and not think about other things going on.
Yip, I know a few EMTs, nurses and doctors very well.
Some people are just born to be help people.

 

[shenrie]

^^^ I have a buddy whose wife is a nurse. she is rock solid when **** happens out in the sticks to our group of friends and is always front and center to assist. however, I did see her crumble when her hubby broke his femur. totally caught me off guard. I was so used to her being a rock and seeing her vulnerable shook me. it might have been that she got a call and was told he was being lifeflighted to the hospital and she got a call from a third party that didn't have all the details and she overthought it on the way to meet us. not real sure, but its the only time ive seen her break down. just never know how its gonna go down when it goes down. variables are never the same and never what you assume. totally agree on some people are just born to help others. that is 100% truth. it just in some folks dna, lol.

Wow. Just wow.

^^^ this is the most common reaction from everyone who gets told or reads this little story.

Unbelievable...wow! I am so glad that your wife is all good...I would have freaked right out! Thank God for the guys being there to help you bring her back. Again, very happy to her that there were no lasting side affects...

thank you much, we really appreciate it.

and you know....I would have assumed I would have freaked out too. I didn't. there just wasn't time. I might have if those 2 wernt there, but since they were there I just tried to stay focused on the task at hand. never know how you will react to a situation till its going down.

 

[Chris Boyd]

What a story. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me worried having my kids along in the back country. I think I could handle stuff with my wife or another adult, but with kids it would be really difficult situation. It's one of the reasons I stay up on CPR cert and keep an inReach with SOS around. I'm also planning to do a wilderness first responder course. (I'm not a medic or first responder) for a longer backcountry trip with a couple of families.

FWIW, I think I would have hit the SOS on the inReach even when she appeared to be stabilizing. I would have had them coming to me! (But easy for me to armchair quarterback it). Great work keeping it together!