A HIKER miraculously survived being pinned face down by a 700 pound boulder for three hours during a horror trek in Alaska.
Kell Morris pulled through the terrifying ordeal thanks to his wife’s quick thinking, escaping with just minor injuries.
APKell Morris and his wife Jo Roop in Sandpoint, Idaho[/caption]
APThe creek near Seward, Alaska, where Kell Morris was trapped under a 700 pound rock[/caption]
Kell Morris trapped under the 700 pound rockAP
He became trapped during a hike with his wife Jo Roop near Godwin Glacier, south of Anchorage.
The couple wanted to avoid the big crowds, so they set out on an isolated trail behind a state prison.
Morris noticed dangerous boulders along the route, some weighing up to 1,000 pounds, and tried to avoid them as best as he could.
But then suddenly a 700-pound boulder slammed him 20 feet down into an icy cold creek, trapping him in the water.
“I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me,” the 61-year-old said.
Luckily, the way the rocks around him landed supported the full weight of the boulder, preventing it from completely crushing him.
But he still felt and intense pain in his left leg as he lay trapped in position.
Morris told the Associated Press: “When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome.”
His wife, a police officer and former state trooper, quickly came to the rescue.
She attempted for about 30 minutes to pry him out from underneath the massive rock, but then went to try and find phone signal.
Mercifully, she only had to go around 300 yards to connect to 911, and her law enforcement experience helped her direct rescuers to the exact co-ordinates.
A volunteer at the Bear Creek Fire Department heard the call and managed to fly a helicopter to the scene.
Firefighters would use the helicopter to access the scene as their all-terrain vehicles could not reach the spot.
By the time they got there, Morris was hypothermic, but was aided by his wife holding his head above the water.
“I think if we hadn’t had that private helicopter assist us, it would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him, and I’m not sure he had that much time,” Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites said.
Emergency responders used airbags designed to help people get out of wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder.
“But then it just became an all-hands brute force of ‘one, two, three, push,” Crites added.
“And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out.”
An Alaska National Guard helicopter got them out of the creek with a rescue basket.
Morris spent two nights in hospital for observation, but only endured minor injuries.
He has since described himself as the luckiest man alive. “And luckier that I have such a great wife.”
“I was very lucky. God was looking out for me,” he added.
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