Sunday, May 6, 2012

Cliff Plunge

My friend Alex was in town from Arizona for his dad's funeral.  I spent yesterday afternoon with him.  We drove around the lakes, we had lunch, we drove around the lakes again, we had coffee, we talked about his dad and other things.

I wrote this last night and hope I got the detail and order of events correctly.  I will speak with Alex later to make any corrections and additions if necessary.

Alex is a big mountain biker and has done the Leadville 100 nine times.  This summer he will get the 1,000 mile buckle.

Alex did the Whiskey 50 in Prescott, Arizona with friends.  One friend, Dusty, was not riding but had a support role handing out water toward the top of a mountain.  Dusty's wife Kiki, Alex, and another friend Andy participated in the race.  As a side note, Andy is a chef from Salt Lake City.

Dusty was using Andy's black Toyota Forerunner and also had Andy's Husky dog Gigi with him.

Alex finished the race when he got a call from Dusty. Dusty said, "I've been in an accident but I'm okay.  I hurt my shoulder and I think my ear is ripped.  Can you come up?"

Alex said, "Where are you?"  Dusty said, "Come up the mountain, you'll find me.  There are rescue vehicles everywhere on the road.  I think I totaled Andy's Forerunner."

Alex thought, HOLY SHIT.  He discovered later that Dusty had made the calls from where he lay, half way down a cliff and was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Dusty had driven off the road.  The Forerunner rolled several times landing several hundred feet down.  Dusty and the dog were thrown free of the vehicle.  The Forerunner rolled until it hit a boulder.  Before I go on, the dog was hurt but now okay.

Alex headed up the mountain.  The rescue workers would not let him into the rescue zone even though he explained that he was Dusty's friend.  He said, "I just talked to Dusty.  He said he's okay."  They said, "Your friend is in a lot worse shape than that."

Alex told them he was coming through anyway.  At the same time, a deputy sheriff decided they needed Alex to tend to the dog who was being cared for by a woman who loves dogs.  Alex and the woman brought the dog down the mountain to a veterinary hospital.  Alex does not remember the woman’s name, only that she was a former Mormon.

Alex tried to find Dusty's wife Kiki and Andy who had finished the race but were lost in a crowd of 1700 bikers and a few hundred spectators.  Alex could not find them.  He had the finish line announcer page them but they did not hear it.

Alex finally found them somewhere in the crowd.  They were tired from the race and needed their clothes and belongings from Andy's car which now was stuck on a boulder half way down a cliff.

Alex reported what happened and said that he talked to Dusty and that Dusty said he was okay.  I'm not sure of the order of events but Kiki went to the hospital to wait for the ambulance to arrive.  Alex and Andy headed back up the mountain.  They needed Andy's and Kiki's clothes, cell phones, ID and such that had been in the SUV but were now actually strewn down the mountain.

Dusty arrived at the Prescott hospital but was soon airlifted to Phoenix. 

Alex and Andy surveyed the scene and just could not believe it.  Alex showed me photos and video from his phone of the wrecked car and of the helicopter that did the airlift.

I assumed this all happened some time ago and asked, when did this happen?  “Last Saturday.”

Sunday Alex called Dusty.  His sternum had been broken in four places, his body had been well lacerated, bloodied and bruised, he had a cracked vertebrae in his neck.  I asked, “Where was he when you called?” assuming he was in the hospital.  “He was home.”  He had been in the hospital only one day!

Last night when I got home I Googled “prescott forerunner accident” and found this:

Rescue Situation in Prescott