On August 28, 79-year-old Ursula Bannister embarked on her annual hike to High Rock Lookout, a scenic viewpoint near Ashford, Washington. For the past 23 years, she has made the trek to honor her mother, bringing flowers to the spot where she scattered her ashes. Despite her confidence as an avid hiker, this year proved difficult, as Bannister found herself in unexpected danger. Fortunately, a group of fellow hikers was nearby, ready to come to her aid.
Bannister explains, “It’s steep so it’s considered a hard hike, but because I’ve done it so many times, I wasn’t nervous about it.” The determined hiker successfully reached the viewpoint, but on her descent, her foot suddenly caught in a hole, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
“By the time I sat up, my foot was pointing the wrong way. I knew right away I had broken my leg,” she recalls. “I tried to get up with my hiking pole and it collapsed on me.”
Bannister was able to call out for help, and a passerby quickly contacted emergency services. However, they were informed that the rescue team wouldn’t arrive for another five hours. “It wasn’t very encouraging,” Bannister said. “I asked this man to please ask anybody if they had pain killers, because at that point, the pain was pretty substantial.”
Luckily, 20-year-old U.S. Air Force Airman Troy May, his fiancée, and a friend saw Bannister in agony and knew what they had to do. They volunteered to carry her on a three-hour journey down to the base of the hiking trail. “I knew I was capable of carrying her down,” said May. “I really didn’t make much of a decision, I just knew I needed to carry her down if I could.”
Before starting the descent, another person—a physical therapist—bandaged Bannister's injuries and crafted a makeshift splint for her leg using pieces of wood. Meanwhile, an occupational therapist guided her through breathing exercises to help keep her calm.
May carried Bannister most of the way, and his friend, Layton Allen, carried her for the rest. At one point, May struggled to keep going as blisters from his boots began to take their toll. In a generous gesture, another passerby offered him their shoes to help him continue. Bannister was blown away by the kindness of these strangers, saying, “I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that these people literally came out of the woods to help me and they were totally unselfish and kind.”
Despite the group’s challenges, they forged new friendships along the way. To help distract Bannister from her pain, they shared stories, discovering that she had grown up in Germany and moved to the U.S. in 1959 at the age of 14. “If I didn’t focus on my pain, I didn’t scream quite as loudly,” Bannister recalls. “I think we were all just giving each other psychological support.”
Once they reached the parking lot, Allen drove Bannister the two hours to Tacoma General Hospital, while May and his fiancée followed behind. The thoughtful group even stayed with Bannister at the hospital until her son arrived. “I thought these people were behaving like angels coming from the sky,” Bannister said. “I was just thankful that these guys were willing to do this.”
At the hospital, Bannister learned she had broken her leg in three places: the tibia, fibula, and heel bone. She had to undergo surgery, and is now recovering in a wheelchair. The brave woman says, “I am now the proud owner of 11 screws and a titanium plate in my leg.”
Bannister’s doctors anticipate that she will be fully healed in about four to six weeks, and May, along with others who helped in her rescue, have kindly checked in on her several times. Despite the pain, Bannister still sees the positive side to the story and believes she and her rescuers will be friends for life. “That totally outweighed the broken leg,” she said. “We’re all connected.”
U.S. Air Force Airman Troy May and his friends rescued 79-year-old Ursula Bannister after she broke her leg while hiking.
He and his friend carried Bannister on their backs for three hours until they reached the base of the hiking trail.
Despite the pain, Bannister still sees the positive side to the story and believes she and her rescuers will be friends for life.
h/t: [Reddit]
All images via U.S. Air Force.
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