Yesterday I went hiking with a group of women only one of who I had met previously. It was a beautiful spring day and we were a collective of like minded ladies who like to hike with our dogs. I was delighted at the opportunity to make new friends and to learn trails and terrain from the locals.
We left at 8:30 and after a flat straight stretch we headed up a small hill, normally I hike up front but one of the ladies was a little slower so I fell back to keep her company. I glanced up and realized the woman in front had fallen so I hollered at the others and ran up the hill. When I got there she was unresponsive so I tried to get her pack off and roll her over. The next two woman to get there were nurses so I passed the task to them and called 911. Fortunately there was cell service and I had a phone but not knowing the area as soon as I told them emergency and ambulance I passed the phone to another woman. The nurses found a pulse and started CPR . The only thing I could do was tell the group I would run back three kilometres to meet the ambulance otherwise they couldn't locate us. As I ran downhill I shucked clothing items on trees to mark the trail because I knew I had to be able to guide the paramedics back to where we were. I ran as fast as I safely could on the trail and managed to get back to the flat stretch in time to hear the ambulance on the road below. I actually overshot the ambulances because I did not know there was a private access road that they could come up. I shouted at a young woman that was walking her dog to check if she could see the ambulances at the trail head and she shouted back that they were behind me. I threw my dog's leash at her and asked her to keep my dog who had followed me down the mountain so I could guide the ambulance back. Sadly the trial we were on has concrete barriers so the ambulance had to try to get through on some old ranching roads to reconnect to the trail. It seemed like forever as we made our way back. Once we got to the hill one of the woman was waiting to point where we could head up and those ambulance crews drove through washouts and a very narrow trail to get to the scene.
The paramedics took over and I just stayed out of the way. I gathered up all the dogs and headed back down the hill so that the three women could stay with their friend. The sweet young woman was kindly waiting for me with my dog, concerned and not knowing the gravity of the situation. After a while the ambulances went past and I waited for the group. We all knew that it wasn't good.
This lovely lady who I had just met was 69 years old, she hiked every day and was in good shape. Her best friend of 40 years was with our group, it was a beautiful spring day and the butterups were blooming.
I came home and cried because sometimes you want to run fast enough to save a life but sometimes it is just not meant to be. I am a BOP but I did my best, the nurses performed CPR on their friend and they did their best, everyone remained calm and did their best. The doctors said she would not have made it no matter where she had been and I know that to be true but sometimes you just really want to run fast enough..........
Thank you for letting me put my heart on paper (or whatever the online equivalent is)
We left at 8:30 and after a flat straight stretch we headed up a small hill, normally I hike up front but one of the ladies was a little slower so I fell back to keep her company. I glanced up and realized the woman in front had fallen so I hollered at the others and ran up the hill. When I got there she was unresponsive so I tried to get her pack off and roll her over. The next two woman to get there were nurses so I passed the task to them and called 911. Fortunately there was cell service and I had a phone but not knowing the area as soon as I told them emergency and ambulance I passed the phone to another woman. The nurses found a pulse and started CPR . The only thing I could do was tell the group I would run back three kilometres to meet the ambulance otherwise they couldn't locate us. As I ran downhill I shucked clothing items on trees to mark the trail because I knew I had to be able to guide the paramedics back to where we were. I ran as fast as I safely could on the trail and managed to get back to the flat stretch in time to hear the ambulance on the road below. I actually overshot the ambulances because I did not know there was a private access road that they could come up. I shouted at a young woman that was walking her dog to check if she could see the ambulances at the trail head and she shouted back that they were behind me. I threw my dog's leash at her and asked her to keep my dog who had followed me down the mountain so I could guide the ambulance back. Sadly the trial we were on has concrete barriers so the ambulance had to try to get through on some old ranching roads to reconnect to the trail. It seemed like forever as we made our way back. Once we got to the hill one of the woman was waiting to point where we could head up and those ambulance crews drove through washouts and a very narrow trail to get to the scene.
The paramedics took over and I just stayed out of the way. I gathered up all the dogs and headed back down the hill so that the three women could stay with their friend. The sweet young woman was kindly waiting for me with my dog, concerned and not knowing the gravity of the situation. After a while the ambulances went past and I waited for the group. We all knew that it wasn't good.
This lovely lady who I had just met was 69 years old, she hiked every day and was in good shape. Her best friend of 40 years was with our group, it was a beautiful spring day and the butterups were blooming.
I came home and cried because sometimes you want to run fast enough to save a life but sometimes it is just not meant to be. I am a BOP but I did my best, the nurses performed CPR on their friend and they did their best, everyone remained calm and did their best. The doctors said she would not have made it no matter where she had been and I know that to be true but sometimes you just really want to run fast enough..........
Thank you for letting me put my heart on paper (or whatever the online equivalent is)