We entered Skyline Drive into the Park from the Idaho entrance and began our descent up the twisty, muddy, narrow road that goes up over the mountain and descends back down into Idaho after 17 miles. I love my FJ Cruiser I thought as it happily scampered through the mud and rocks. I chose McCroskey, because not very many people use it. The trails have wide open vista views and beautiful old growth forest. Bob whined. "You didn't tell me we were going up this high? I should have brought a heavier coat!" "I suppose you didn't bring a flashlight either?" I grinned at him and showed him the small flashlight on the end of the carabiner clip on my keychain. He shook his head and showed me his flashlight, a much larger counterpart of mine. Men...
At about mile marker 7, I caught a glimpse of headlights off the side of the road, down a steep embankment in the trees. I backed up and said something ridiculous like, "That is a weird place to park." I don't remember saying it, but Bob insists I did. I backed the vehicle up and peered over the edge.
A silver jeep cherokee rested down the embankment about 300 feet. The vehicle rested perpendicular to the side of the mountain and was held in place by a large pine tree precariously holding the vehicle from plummeting down the cliff. The vehicle looked like it had rolled. The windshield was completely shattered, and the roof was dented in. Carefully climbing down, I could hear the vehicle running. O'h no, I said out loud, I think there is someone in there.
Bob quickly made it down to the vehicle before me. A man sat behind the wheel, the drivers window was missing and he was staring forward. Bob asked him questions, "Are you hurt?" No, "Do you need help?" No. "Can we help you out of the vehicle?" No, the man said over and over while looking
straight ahead. His tone was flat and he acted like he wanted us to go. His pupils appeared fixed. I could see no visible injuries, but his tone of voice suggested he wanted us to stay away.
Perplexed, but suspicious that something was wrong Bob and I climbed back up the hill to call 911. As we waited for EMS to arrive, we kept close tabs on the man. He appeared to be talking either on the phone or to himself. Afraid that if we stayed too close, he might grow agitated. We stayed just out of sight, checking on him every 5 minutes or so.
Potlatch EMS arrived on scene minutes later. The man was now unconscious, and only awakened to
vigorous stimulus. Medstar was contacted for immediately evacuation off the mountain to Sacred Heart in Spokane. Bob and I jumped in the FJ with a member of the EMS crew and went up the road to try to search for a site large enough for Medstar to land. About a mile up the road, just past Mission Mtn., we found an area 75 x 75 large enough for the bird to land.
The GPS on the EMS crew was not working, so I pulled out my compass on my iphone and looked up the coordinates. The EMS crew member called them in to the flight crew. It was cold, cloudy, foggy and dark as we listened for the familiar sound of medstar. Approximately 3 miles to the Southwest on a far ridge we saw the bird. "We are directly over the coordinates you gave us, over." The radio squawked. Apparently my phone has different settings to the compass, minutes versus seconds, which is why the coordinates were off.
"Go North, no 3 o-clock, no your 6-o-clock" she chirped. I glanced at Bob as he shook his head. We watched the bird turn away from us. Calmly, Bob tells her to call the flight crew back and say we are at their 9-o-clock and to head Northwest from their location. I gazed at Bob as he calmly directed medstar to our location. Turn by turn, they grew closer as the frazzled EMS member looked on, obviously grateful for his help. Bob was amazing, as he communicated navigation coordinates and re calculated their bearing in his head. I felt such love as I gazed at him, thankful to have this wonderful man in my life.
Whop, Whop, Whop, Whop the blades hummed as they approached our location. My ponytail whipped my neck and I covered my face as the bird safely landed. Looking back across the mountain at the site of the accident I could see the flicker of the Rescue vehicle lights as they transported the man to our location.
I could see and sense the urgency in the crew as the Medstar nurse assessed the man in the back of the ambulance. "Suction, Suction, she yelled as one of the EMS workers sprung to life and raced to the back of the other vehicle to grab the portable suction." Apparently he was vomiting and they were trying to get an airway in, but the suction on the ambulance was not working. I glanced at the nurse who looked stressed as she hustled to get an airway in the patient. I stood by and watched helplessly, wanting to do something.
The crew informed me that if we hadn't responded and found him when we did, he would probably have died. The odds of someone finding him tonight were poor. How long had he been there? If the tree hadn't caught him, he would probably be at the bottom of the mountain. Just how did we ever see him they asked?
I knew inside that I had felt a gentle nudge to get out and go for a walk on a cold, overcast dreary day. I felt a strong urge to stop and check out a strange light that I could have so easily overlooked. I know God made sure that we were there to find this poor man. God works in mysterious ways for sure.
Per the EMS crew, the vehicle was filled with alcohol bottles, NyQuil, and other bottles. He was by himself, the weekend of Thanksgiving, up on top of a mountain in a remote area. There were no skid marks or signs the vehicle tried to veer or stop. I can't say what happened, but I do know that it was not his time to go tonight.
I pray for him tonight as he is in critical care in Spokane. I pray for his friends and family as I write this. I praise God for leading us to him, this unknown man. I thank God for my family and realize just how precious life is.
Squirrel
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