codyadams
Well-Known Member
Yesterday while my father in law and I were on horseback, about 5-6 miles back in the Wyoming high country looking for deer, we had a terrible accident. At about 1 p.m., while going up a steep trail, my father in law's horse slipped back on it's rear end, right at the edge of a cliff. He tried to lean forward and save it, but it was just too far gone. His horse fell backwards on top of him and together they tumbled down a 140-160 foot rock cliff.
Only by a miracle of God, he wasn't dead. Amazingly, neither was his horse, and was also still rideable. But, my father in law was banged up, in a bad way. He could stand, but not walk. I carried him up out of the drainage onto the trail, and managed to get him back on his horse. Another set of hunters saw it happen and beat feet over to us, and let me use their sat phone, as we were at least 40 miles on a very bad dirt road from phone service. When I called 911, they said that the ambulance couldn't get to us, and if he was already on a horse and stable enough to move, we could get him out before search and rescue could get there. So together, we carefully rode out to the truck, and I drove him out of the mountains, being careful on the bumps, and got him to a hospital.
There, they found he had a broken C6 vertebrae, broken pelvis, his knee had been dislocated, and subsequently/accidentally relocated when I picked him up and put him in the truck, and gave him a lot of stitches for multiple large lacerations on his head. Worst of all, they found that where his neck was broke, the bone that broke is causing a blockage and possible damage to an artery, which could lead to a blood clot, and possibly stroke. He was life flighted to a larger hospital with more resources, where he is at as of right now. They also want to do more tests as they were concerned about something they saw in his abdomen.
We are all praying for him, but more praying never hurts. Thank you everyone, and God bless.
Only by a miracle of God, he wasn't dead. Amazingly, neither was his horse, and was also still rideable. But, my father in law was banged up, in a bad way. He could stand, but not walk. I carried him up out of the drainage onto the trail, and managed to get him back on his horse. Another set of hunters saw it happen and beat feet over to us, and let me use their sat phone, as we were at least 40 miles on a very bad dirt road from phone service. When I called 911, they said that the ambulance couldn't get to us, and if he was already on a horse and stable enough to move, we could get him out before search and rescue could get there. So together, we carefully rode out to the truck, and I drove him out of the mountains, being careful on the bumps, and got him to a hospital.
There, they found he had a broken C6 vertebrae, broken pelvis, his knee had been dislocated, and subsequently/accidentally relocated when I picked him up and put him in the truck, and gave him a lot of stitches for multiple large lacerations on his head. Worst of all, they found that where his neck was broke, the bone that broke is causing a blockage and possible damage to an artery, which could lead to a blood clot, and possibly stroke. He was life flighted to a larger hospital with more resources, where he is at as of right now. They also want to do more tests as they were concerned about something they saw in his abdomen.
We are all praying for him, but more praying never hurts. Thank you everyone, and God bless.
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