Kudo's to Catherine Reilly for saving my life!!!! With repost of her side of the story

We went out to get some waterfall and forest shots when I slipped on a stick.I dislocated and broke my ankle. She ran to the trailhead with Angus and called 911. Several strong men came,gave me morphine and carried me out. She and Angus stayed with me through the whole thing.I had surgery on Friday.
Note to self:
1.not only are wet rocks slippery...so are wet sticks
2.Never never never hike alone...
3.Always, always , always carry your 10 essentials (they came in handy)
4.to keep from panic...sing and make sure you get another shot from your new perspective. (which I have posted here)

Thanks to Catherine I will be around a little longer to get more shots! I can never express how thankful I am for her.

Sorry about your injuries, but here's to Catherine:

Mary,

Good afternoon & I hope you feel better and congradulations to Catherine. Not to take away from your injuries, but on the lighter side of things, is this a picture that you took while lying on you back after falling?

Rich Hahn

Mary, glad it turned out OK after the initial pain, not to mention the recuperation ahead. Great job, Catherine! Now, Mary, you've just got to get well so you can get back out there.

Um, not that I recommend rushing anything.

Congrats on doing everything right. Too easy for a broken ankle to lead to much worse things if a person is out alone.

Wow, what a story. So happy to hear things turned out well, and kudos to Catherine!

Looks like a great place to post the 10 essentials for uninformed readers. Glad it wasn't worse & get better soon.

Wow, good to hear you're OK. Kudos to Catherine!

Glad to hear Catherine was there to help out Mary. When I read this it brought back some scary thoughts of my own ankle break sometime ago now. Thankfully I did not panic as I had my two Siberian Huskies with me at the time on their leads. I was sitting for almost 45 minutes before a man came along who could help out. Thinking back, although I still venture out alone to this day, I have become much more cautious about feet placement and no risk taking with monumental jumps of sorts. Good luck with your recovery from this bad fall.

Thanks for your well wishes. Yes this is one of the many that I took while waiting for Cath. I hope that soon she will post the experience from her perspective

An EP one week, saving a life the next week, it's all in a days work for Catherine!



(sorry to hear about your accident, Mary, I hope you're feeling better soon.

She is amazing isn't she!!!

We never know if that next step has our name on it do we Mary. I've had a couple of near misses when by myself and consider myself lucky to be here in one piece.

Glad to hear you were with Catherine & Co and cool, collected heads prevailed. Here's to a speedy and full recovery! BTW, great way to pass the time waiting for the calary!

Nice work, Catherine. So, I'm curious about these 10 essentials. Right now mine are 1 extra battery, one extra CF card, and eight Reeses peanut butter cups. Please elaborate, and get well soon!

Wow, that is a wild story. I'm glad to hear you're OK. Way to go Catherine, you really rose to the occasion. Get well soon Mary.

Mary,

I am so glad to hear you are ok, and Catherine, what a wonderful thing you did for Mary.

Get well soon.

Way to go Catherine!
All the best to you, Mary. Here's to healing quickly!

Way to go, Catherine!

Glad you're doing okay, Mary..get that ankle healed up quickly!

Yoohoo for Catherine What a save...love the photo too...a great memoir of your day.

Catherine - way to go!

Mary - great advice, a nice way to honor Catherine, and a wonderful attitude as well.

You both sound like great people to know and spend time with.

Get better soon Mary! Great job Catherine!

Nathan

Here's the adrenaline laced photo of Mary and her rescuers.

Clearly, Mary now has waaay too much time on her hands! Btw, friends, she's a nurse and one tough woman to handle what she had to endure last Thursday.

Okay, well, uh.... ... My version of the story begins with great delight being out in our breathtaking PNW woods taking photographs in good company with Mary, who showed me this place. As fellow photogs you'll all understand when I tell you we stood for well over 3 hours studying and shooting the face of a gorgeous cascade of water in all the wonder of its Spring run-off from the nearby mountains. We took a short break and then decided to start back and focus our attention on woodsy landscapes and wildflowers and plants. This we had delayed in our excitement to get to the falls first. (The current post on Flora was my first shot of the day on the way in. I could NOT resist! Mary was duly patient with me.) So, we didn't go 20 feet on the way out from the falls before we stopped to inspect some delicate wildflowers in a carpet of shamrocks. Mary spied some bleeding hearts and was trying to point them out to me. I couldn't see them. So, ever the helper, she took the few steps into the scene to jiggle them for me. As we were discussing how to get a good shot of them, she took a big stride over the shamrocks that she didn't want to smash. Her landing foot struck a wet stick, all of 1/2" thick, lurking in the layer of conifer needles and moss and such. In that split second, down she went and landed right at my feet. "Oh, God," says she, "I did it..." "You didn't!" You did?!" Says she, "I did. I broke my ankle." Gees, the shamrocks are saved, the ankle wrecked. Instant adrenaline. A few moments to stay calm and decide what to do. Understandably, Mary, wanted me to go immediately for help. I wanted to make sure she was settled a little better before I left. No time for disagreement! She had the 10 essentials, medical experience, there was no bleeding, she was clear-headed and quite adamant that I scram out of there for help. My service dog Aenghus stepped up to the job at this point. (He's MY hero!) Being this was my first time in the area and that I don't see all that well, he led me-- no leash-- back up the trail to the gravel road and back to the trailhead, where there was finally cell phone service. Oh, I ran. I ran farther and faster than I knew I could run. Thought about Mary all by herself with pain coming on in a mighty way, and shock. Great motivation to keep running. There ensued a full blown rescue by two rescue squads, a fire dept medic and an ambulance team-- 7 people all together. Boy was I glad to see them! One hour from fall to rescue, and Mary was on a backboard, in a stokes stretcher, stuffed with IV morphine and valium, and being carried out to the road over all the same trail obstacles we'd dealt with on the way in. Aenghus, the Super Poodle, supervised all of this activity as only he can. Once in the ER, x-rays revealed one of the nastiest ankle breaks any of us had seen. Given our various and collective medical experience, well, you get the idea. Characterized by the surgeon as, "a very unstable break, one of the worst I've seen," Mary had to have surgery asap and is now home with 8 pins in her ankle and severe and stern warnings (you listening, pal?) to stay non-weight-bearing for EIGHT WEEKS. If she fails in this very difficult task, I will kill her! Because that would make my (for me) marathon run and strenuous worrying all for naught. In which case I will be most disturbed!

The 10 ESSENTIALS for ALL hikes: extra clothes, extra food, extra water, map/compass, sun protection, fire starter, first aid kit, light source, emergency shelter, knife. (Courtesy of The Mountaineers, Seattle, and REI.com) You'll be glad you have 'em! Even for a "short, easy" trail walk like ours was supposed to be. I will add to that list the importance of good boots. Mary's fate may have been even worse had she been wearing improper footwear. It was more slippery in there than slug slime; I had fallen twice, myself. What happened to us could happen to anyone at anytime. Accidents do happen, and we hope you will prepare for them so as to come out for the better rather than the worse.

And after all one must do what is needed. Thank God, truly, He gave us the means to physically respond to emergencies. And thank God for Aenghus, the best dog in the world.

Take care everyone. Please do keep Mary and her family in your thoughts, because staying down for 8 weeks takes a lot of patience and support. Best wishes to all, and may the light be with you.

I don't know which is worse. The pain of the injury or being confined for 8 weeks! The two together will have you on all our minds Mary. Take care of the ankle. Period!

And ever the photographer, I've got to say I'm taken with this shot, Catherine. The very effective use of motion adds a whole lot of tension compared to a static version. It nicely rides the line that exists somewhere between PJ and art.

She forgot to say that as she went running down the trail I called after her " Don't run!!!, Don't Run!!! Leave it to you Cath to get the last shot That's what you think ... I have one of you with a victory smile on your face!

Ouch! Sorry to hear about the slip and broken ankle, Mary. I'm glad Catherine was around to assist in your rescue!

IV Morphine AND Valium? That's a pretty dangerous combination to use out in the field (i.e. not in the ER) as it can lead to respiratory depression quite easily.
However, glad to hear that everything turned out OK. Rule number one is to never hike alone.

Johan Geyser
South Africa

Oh man, that is tough! Ouch, ouch, ouch! Glad you both kept your heads about you and all turned out well....except for the 8 weeks off your feet Mary! That is gonna be a challenge I would guess..... Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Hi, Johan--
So right about the drugs, but she needed that and a lot more by the time her ankle was reduced. The medic had started an IV soon after arriving at her side and had prepared before hiking in to have all the necessary equipment for airway maintenance had it been needed. The pain was so great that Mary was wide awake all the way to the hospital. And nary a whimper out of her. The medic was right on top of everything, monitoring her and checking with her frequently about pain level, giving her more medication as she needed it. Same in the ER. They took very good care of her. I am impressed how much better pain management is now than even a few years ago. Mary is a real TROOPER! I'd have been screaming my head off, I think...

Edit: Yeah, Mary, the victory smile. I was pretty tickled with one particular shot of the falls. It was at the viewpoint, before THE FALL. Probably look like the goofy photog I am... Yep, got the last shot, but not the last laugh. That stupid, stupid stick! You got the last laugh on the ER doc. On enough meds to fly to the moon without a rocket, and you can crack a joke and take a teasing. Amazing. I, on the other hand, get real mean when I'm in pain. Guess what I really want to say is that it was quite a day, both before THE FALL and after it; and we can admire each other for the way we handled the experience.