Colorado Train Passenger Looks Out Window And Discovers Missing Hiker Who Broke Leg
Silverton Medical Rescue
A passenger on a Colorado train spotted a missing and injured hiker after looking out the train's window at just the right moment.
The San Juan County Office of Emergency Management shared in a Facebook post on Oct. 11 that an alert from Colorado's Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad led to the rescue of the hiker, who had broken her leg during a fall. The New Mexico woman, who is in her 20s, was hiking the Colorado Trail when she headed toward the Animas riverbank, where she fell. As a result, she spent two nights in the wilderness, before she got herself to a "visual spot" in the woods and was able to flag down a passing train.
"It's incredible she survived," DeAnne Gallegos, a spokesperson for the San Juan County OEM, said per CNN. "She had no food, very little water, no other survival gear. She only had shorts and a tank top and survived in 20-something-degree weather."
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The woman, who was discovered by the riverbank, was approached by railroad staff who doubled as La Plata County medics. The medics, Nick and Klyah Breeden, swam across the river and waited with her until the Silverton Medical Rescue arrived.
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The search and rescue team then flew in on a helicopter and used ropes to transport the woman across the river, before a helicopter transported her to a hospital. The team itself then left on a small train reserved for emergency use.
"Silverton and San Juan County would like to thank the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for their support and partnership in this successful search and rescue mission," the office wrote on Facebook. "Another person in a moment of need was successfully brought home due to teamwork and collaboration."
Silverton Medical Rescue
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Images shared on Facebook show the rescue mission as it unfolded, with a few shots showing the woman being transported across the river on the ropes, and another shows rescuers walking across the body of water to get to her. Another picture shows the movement of the water and the distance between where the woman positioned herself and where the helicopter was able to arrive.
