A 61-year-old man survived a harrowing ordeal after he became trapped under a 700-pound boulder for hours in Seward, Alaska’s Fourth of July Creek, authorities confirmed.
AP News identified the man as Seward native Kell Morris, who was hiking off-trail with his wife near Godwin Glacier on May 24. Morris told reporters that while hiking along the boulders, “the whole side slid out from under me.”
Morris ended up face-down in the frigid creek, pinned under a massive rock. Crews responded to the emergency and reported that his wife, identified by the AP as retired Alaska state trooper Jo Roop, held Morris’s head above water while rescue operators worked to free him.
“The only reason he didn’t get completely crushed was because other boulders underneath him took some of the weight,” Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites told GearJunkie. “We were expecting crushing injuries given the size of that boulder.”
Authorities confirmed he was hypothermic and going in and out of consciousness during the rescue. Initially, responders from the Seward Fire Department, Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corp, and Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department tried reaching the duo on foot and with ATVs due to the “extreme terrain.”
But in a stroke of luck, a nearby firefighter overheard the boulder rescue call and happened to have ready access to a helicopter.
“One of Bear Creek [fire department’s] Volunteer’s works for Seward Helicopter Tours and heard the call while working, and he and a pilot volunteered to respond to the scene and pick up six firefighters via helicopter and transport them to the patient, thus cutting down 45 minutes of travel time,” Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites wrote in a press release.
Despite the good fortune, the terrain proved too rough for the helicopter to land, so crews had to jump down while it hovered. Crews used air bags, ropes, and “brute force” to lift the boulder and pull Morris to safety, the report confirmed. Seward Providence Hospital treated Morris for non-life-threatening injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Crites told GearJunkie the confluence of events and the ensuing rescue were extraordinary. “I’ve never seen anything like this in close to 30 years,” he said.
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