We're All Insane - Trapped for 6 Hours “Rock Climbing Nightmare”

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

In this gripping video, we bring you the astonishing story of resilience and survival as a young girl finds herself in a terrifying predicament while rock climbing. Join us as we delve into the heart-pounding account of how she endured six agonizing hours with her knee trapped in solid rock. If you have a unique story you'd like to share on the podcast, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/ZiHgdoK4PLRAddiB9 or send an email to [e-mail] Business Inquiries please contact: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, it's me Devorah. I just dropped an all new bonus episode inside my new subscription channel, We're All Insane Plus. This week's bonus episode is called My Brain was slipping into my spine. Listen now by subscribing to We're All Insane Plus inside your Spotify or Apple Podcasts app or go to we're all insane.com. Hi, my name is Christine and I'm going to be talking about how I got my like stuck in a rock for six hours while rock climbing. So just before I get started, I want to give a little bit of background and maybe just say a few words about why I'm here. I don't know if the goal is maybe just for this to be a cathartic, get it off my chest experience, or if I just feel like I can really move on after putting it out there. But I also hope that maybe at least one person

will feel comforted by hearing this just to know that you don't need to compare your trauma to anyone else's, you know, whatever you went through is still difficult. It doesn't have to be as bad or better than anyone else's. It's still happened to you. And so I hope someone can get some comfort from that. They will. Spot on. Yeah. So just a little bit of background on how, what led me up to this situation. I met my boyfriend in college in sophomore year because we went to the same state school. And we dated throughout college. And then after college, he moved to Arizona for work. I was still living back at home on the East Coast because I was finishing grad school. And so while he was working, I would go and visit a couple times a year since

like I would go during school breaks or during the summer or things like that because I have a job where I can work remotely, or at least at the time I could work fully remotely. So I would go visit him multiple times a year. So one thing about my boyfriend will, is that he is a very avid rock climber, and he is a very active person. He loves to be outdoors. He loves to ski and hike. And rock climbing has really been his passion for the past several years. I should say I'm not as outdoorsy and as active as him, but I mean, I wouldn't say I'm out of shape. I like to ride. I do horseback riding. I like hiking when I go out to see him. But basically the picture I'm trying to paint is that rock climbing was not ever my interest. It's always been his.

But because he's so passionate about it, I really wanted to make an effort to give it a try for him. So the event I'm going to be talking about took place in January of 2023, but he moved to Arizona in 2021. So throughout those two years that I visited, I gave rock climbing a try indoors. So we would go to the climbing gym. where you could go with a partner and you would do what's called belaying. So you would attach yourself to a rope. You would have one person on the ground, you know, and then the other person would climb the wall and then you'd swap. So that was really my introduction to rock climbing.

Were you good at it? Not really. I mean, I wouldn't say I was bad. It takes a lot of like upper body strength. Yeah. Even just like with your fingers, I feel like to like hook on. Yeah.

That's what I found is that, you know, if your nails are slightly too long. You know, they break off. You get blisters. I got blisters even from just bullying, you know, when I was on the ground and helping him climb just from holding the rope. So yeah, I would get hand blisters. I, in the gym, I don't know if you've been or if how many people watching have been rock climbing in a gym before. There's different kinds of gyms. But like I said, this one was, it wasn't bouldering. It was just, you know, rope climbing. So most people would come with a partner that would belay them and they had a couple auto belays. But the way that they would grade them is like five and six was beginner level. And then anything past 10 would start to get letters attached to it. So they would break it down in terms of the difficulty. So you know, 10a, 10b. Got it. C would be harder than 10A. I only ever made it up to nine. And even nine, I wasn't very good at it. Okay. You know what I mean? So this is like normal rock. I've been to a rock climbing gym, but it was, I don't know what it's called because I don't know the terms. But it was like when the walls are slanted and like they're they do get more challenging but there's no rope there was that

so this gym that we would go to is that bolder like what is that um the bouldering were the really short ones they would be like 10 or 15 feet tall okay I think that's it wasn't anything crazy high because at the rock climbing gym that we went to they had a couple spots with like carabiners attached along the wall so what you would do is you'd have someone of the ground still belaying you but as you're climbing you're clipping into the into the yeah I never did any like that. No, and I didn't do that either. I was doing specifically, there's already a rope there. Got it. You clip in at the bottom. Okay. The other person is just, you're, belaying you, which means like either giving you more or less rope. Okay. Got it. But the point being that,

I was not that good at it. Yeah. Um, because I mean, I horseback ride. I don't have really much upper body strain. Rock climbing is just not your thing. It's not my thing either. It's just not my thing. But you know what? I, I, I mean, I, I really, you know, I really, wanted to give it a try and it was a way for us to bond and do things together. You know, especially since I, we were long distance, I really wanted to make that effort to do these things with him, you know, so I don't, that's the other thing. It's sweet that you got your like got for him for six hours. That really shows your dedication to the relationship. Yeah, that's one thing I want to say is all the people I'm going to mention in this story, including Will, my boyfriend,

I don't harbor any ill will towards them. No one's blamed. No one's blamed. I mean, obviously in the moment. I experienced some pretty strong emotions, but I don't want anyone to think that I'm blaming him or anyone else that was involved. And I'll mention that as well. But I just wanted to say that. You know, I take responsibility. These are my decisions. Just in the moment, obviously. You know, you can feel different things. So that's a little bit of my background on climbing. Basically, I climbed a few times a year when I went to visit him in Arizona. And at this point, it was only indoors. It was only indoors, yes. And so when I came, I came December, you know, 2022. We spent New Year's together. And then January 2020, he told me that three of his friends

were going to go climbing and he wanted to go with them. They were going to go to Sedona. I don't know if you've ever been to Sedona or if, you know, you've seen photos of it, but it is really beautiful. Like all the rocks are this, you know, beautiful orange, burnt red color. I also feel like I might upset people that are into rock climbing because I clearly don't know everything, but I'm just going to do my best to explain. You're just talking about your experience. Yeah, I'm just going to do my best to explain. And I did, you know, ask my boyfriend and his friends for advice on how I should explain things.

So he told me that they wanted to go climbing in Sedona. And this was going to be an outdoor trip. And he asked me if I wanted to go. I was hesitant, but I wasn't sure if I was hesitant out of laziness or just out of like general, I don't love rock climbing and this sounds like it's going to be hard. You know, I've never done this before. I really don't know how much, how much this is going to require, you know? It sounds more intense. It does. And so I'll go into the details about the type of climb and stuff, but I was really hesitant, you know, and it was hard for me to judge if it was

some sort of gut feeling or if it was just me being lazy because I'm, you know, I didn't love climbing indoors anyways. But that said, I didn't really want to have to spend, you know, a weekend away from him because it's not like I had that much time visiting. And, you know, I thought I'm going to be with him and I'm going to be with three other people. They're not going to bring me on something that they don't think I could do. And, you know, it's not like I'm going alone. We're going to have all these people that know what they're doing. So that made me feel a bit comforted. So basically, we left Saturday night because we were driving up from Southern Arizona. We left Saturday night and we arrived pretty late at the campground a little bit outside of

Sedona. We all camped in our cars that night. And I would say the first place where things went a little bit wrong is that we got a late start that morning. We all kind of woke up around 9 or 930, but we really didn't get moving right away. So, you know, we had to get ready and get changed. and then we drove into town into Sedona to get breakfast. So already, like I said, we probably should have made an earlier start, but that's kind of what happened. Something in me when I went to breakfast told me, Christine, you historically have stomach issues and stomach aches, eat the blandest, plainest breakfast so that you have nothing that happens to you on this hike. You will not even think about anything going on with you.

your GI tracked, don't even have coffee. And honestly, I want to be like, I'm so smart for doing that, you know? Because so me, the people that were involved, it was me and Will, my boyfriend, and then three of his friends. One of them is named Jeff. And then there was Zach and Maddie. Zach and Maddie were dating. And basically everyone other than me had pretty extensive experience climbing. I would say Maddie was somewhere in between me and the three guys. But she still had been outdoor climbing before. Like I said, they had all done this. But so I had maybe I don't know if it was God.

I don't know if it was intuition. But something in me at breakfast said, just play it safe, you know, let's make sure the conditions are right for this climb. That's because I was really nervous. Maybe that sounds silly. But if you suffer with stomach aches, then you know. Yeah, let's make sure we're not going to shit ourselves. Precisely, you know.

So I played it safe. The two of the three guys had Huebos rancheros and I thought that was really bold. I just couldn't be me. After that, so I want to say at that point, it was maybe, you know, 11, 1130. We drove to a nearby store to get some gear because I had climbing shoes, but I didn't even have a harness, you know? Because when I had gone to the rock gym, I would bring shoes or, you know, rent shoes there and then also rent a harness. So we went and I bought a harness that day. And then I was going to borrow someone's helmet because they had an extra.

So then at that point, we set off in two cars. I set off with Will and then the other three were in Zach's car. And we, it's not that it was far, but we had to drive down some kind of bumpy paths. And we got to a point where the road was really. really, really bumpy. You know, it was like only all-wheel drive and SUVs could make it pass. So it just seemed like every step was kind of taking longer than we anticipated. So when we finally made it to the base of where we were going to start, I'm not entirely sure what time it was. It was maybe 1 o'clock, so 1 p.m. And so yeah, really at that point, we're kind of starting

later in the day than I think we should have. So we didn't even get to the base of. the climb at that point. We had to hike up to where this climb was. So we begin our hike, you know, we all have some gear with us. Will is being very nice in carrying most of my stuff. But the hike really quickly turned into more of a scramble. Almost on all fours and you're having to hunt yourself forward to scramble up this very steep rock. So it took a long time because there's just no way to do this quickly. At one point, we thought maybe let's change into our climbing shoes to have better grip. And it took a long time. And on the way up, I slipped and I fell on some sort of plant. You know those, they look like big succulence almost. But they're kind of spiky.

And I fell and I smashed my hand on it. And my entire hand started to go numb. I don't know if there were toxins or something in that plant, but it really hurt. And I was like, great. I even started climbing and now when my hands is messed up. So we kept going and we finally made it to the base of the climb. I'm not entirely sure of the exact time, but I want to say 2.30 or 3. So before I go into our actual climbing experience and what happened, I do want to give a little bit of details just for people that are wondering. First, I'm going to talk about the type of climbing that we did. We did trad or traditional climbing, and this basically means that there's no bolt drilled into the wall, there's no nothing in the cracks, there's no preset route for the climb.

You have to place your own protective gear into the cracks along the way that'll catch you if you fall. Does that make sense? Yes. Because on some outdoor routes, there's already preset routes and you can kind of just fall along and clip in, kind of like what I told you they have at the gym, you know? but this one didn't have any of that. So basically what happened was I was on top rope, which meant that I was just following the whole time. We went in two teams, so Zach and Maddie went first, and then I went with Jeff and Will.

And the climb was separated in three pitches, which means there were three sections to it. I was in the middle, and Jeff was bringing up the rear. So I was on top rope, which means that I was just following. I wasn't the one placing the equipment, I wasn't the one clipping to it, and I wasn't the one removing it. If I let go, I would just hang from the rock because, you know, you clip into your harness,

you have the rope, you know, and because I wasn't experienced, all I had to do was climb, which was pretty ideal because I could just focus all my energy on climbing and not having to worry about clipping into anything, removing or putting the protective gear. So the person ahead of me who was Will would attach to the can. which I'll go into the detail of that as well. And then the person below me who was Jeff would remove them. So the materials that we used, I just mentioned cams. Those were the things that we would place into the cracks.

The way that they work is that they're small when you place them into the crack, and then you release a trigger that expands them, and then they stay in place. And we also used nuts, which wedge into flaring cracks. So depending on the type of crack, we'd use either the cams or the nuts. So are you guys kind of like mapping it out and sending it up prior to the climb? Yes. Or you do it while you're climbing? There's a site called Mountain Project, which has a lot of climbs, you know, in popular areas

kind of mapped out. And it'll kind of tell you some different options that you could take. So this particular climb had three different options for it. And we had picked the easier route. So they kind of knew ahead of time which side we were going to start from and the general route of where they needed to place things. And we were also following Zach and Maddie who went first. You know, I think, I think Zach went first. He would place the equipment and then Maddie followed and removed it. And then Will went and put our equipment. I just climbed and then Jeff removed it as he

climbed behind me. So we were kind of making our own path, but we were following a general guideline that you know, they had read about on Mountain Project. Because I think Zach was the one that knew about this climb. I don't know if he had done this specific one, but he had been to the area. And so he said, this is a beginner climb. You know, this will be fun for all of us. It'll be leisurely. Like, it's not going to be really difficult. So that's kind of why I thought we can give it a try.

So I mentioned a little bit about how climbs are rated or scored in terms of difficulty. Most trad climbs in the U.S. are graded using the Yosemite decimal system. So it starts at 5, 5.1, 5.2, and so on until 5.9. And then they get broken up into letter grades like 5.10A, 5.10B. according to my friends, you know, and to Will, who are good at climbing, they said 5.10 is where intermediate climbing starts, and 5.12, 5.13 is where hard climbing starts. There might be variations in opinion, but I think that's kind of the general guide. As far as the objective difficulty of the climb, I really wondered about this, especially, you know, in hindsight. But the climb that we

were on, I looked at Mountain Project as well to see what other people had rated it. It was a 5.7. So objectively, a beginner climb, it wouldn't be out of the question to bring someone along to do this as their first outdoor climb. As far as comparing to climbing in the gym, in gyms, I had climbed up to a 5.9, like I said, or a 9. This climb was easier in grade compared to what I had done in the gym, but it's really hard to compare since it's just an entirely different style of climbing. So different. Being outside is not. Yeah, it's really hard to compare. and especially because this route had what are called offwits, which ended up being the source of all my troubles.

And it's really hard to practice those in a gym. Offwits are cracks that are wider than the size of your hand, but not wide enough for your body to fit inside. And most gyms just don't have that for you to practice on. They might have small ones, but the gym that we had gone to didn't have those, it never occurred to me to practice them. In general, it's a hard skill to practice. So for more specifics, if anyone's curious, we climbed the Queen Victoria Spire in Sedona, and we went along the regular route, which was graded a 5.7 or a 5.8 mountain project. In general, there seems to be a consensus that climbing outside is more difficult than an indoor climb

at the same grade. But in reality, you know, if I'm being objective, it's just a different skill set, and it feels difficult even if you're, like, just because you're new to it like I was. So we had planned to do the regular route, which was three pitches. So there were three stages to the climb. And the first pitch was going to be the longest. I think the first pitch was maybe 100 or 150 feet. And then the next two were going to be short.

And it was 250 feet to the summit. When we got to the base of the climb, I just really did not have this good feeling. But again, I kept telling myself, Christine, this could just be, because you don't really love this activity and you know it's going to be a lot of effort. That sounds strange, but sometimes when I know something's going to require a lot of effort, I just, I didn't really want to do it. But I thought I'm already here. You know, I'm with everyone.

I'm going to give this a try. You know, I don't want to disappoint anyone. I don't want to disappoint myself. So I mean, it's normal too when you don't have a ton of experience in something and it's not your hobby to have multiple times when you're like, I don't really want to be here. You know what I mean? That's normal. And I feel bad admitting that, you know, because I'm with my boyfriend. I'm with his friends. It was a nice day. But I was just kind of like, man. That's normal. I promise you. It's normal. Yeah. And I just, it looked so intimidating. It really looked intimidating because obviously I heard everything that they said,

but we had just scrambled up there. The ground that we're leaving our stuff on, you know, is bumpy and uneven. We're all, we just feel like we're on a hill. And then there's, this spire just in the middle of a hill, you know, we really just kind of felt like we're in the middle of nowhere, even though we weren't, you know, because it was so difficult to get there. So we have a snack at the base of the climb. We changed into our climbing shoes and Zach and Maddie set off. Once they finished the first pitch, that's when team two, you know, me, Will and Jeff went ahead. So like I said for the first pitch, Will was the one leading. I was in the middle and Jeff was bringing up the rear so he could clean up the equipment. One, you don't want to

leave your stuff behind, you know, it's not right to do that and leave it in nature, but also, obviously, it's your gear. You want to be able to reuse it. So that's why, you know, you have to pick it up when you're leaving. I was a little bit worried about, I was worried. I consider me intimidated, you know, Jeff and Maddie, I'm sorry, Zach and Maddie went first, and then I went ahead with Will and Jeff. And honestly, the first pitch went impressively well. Considering how nervous I was and considering my lack of experience, I think I did decently well. And that was the longest one you said. That was the longest one. And I couldn't tell if they were just being nice to me or, you know, tooting my horn. Maybe they were just trying to make me feel better. But they were like,

you did really well. You did the chimney. I'm like, what's a chimney? They said, you know, you scooted your back along this side and you put your feet here and you climbed up like that, you know, that's an advanced move. I'm like, uh-oh. I put no thought into it. I was just trying to get up to the top, you know. But it seemed to go well. I guess I think that took us a little bit less than an hour, maybe half an hour, 45 minutes,

you know, because both teams had to go. And then there was a little bit of a platform at the top of. the first pitch and we kind of stood to, you know, catch our breath, drink water. It felt really high up. And I'm not scared of heights, but I just was so aware of how remote it felt, you know, because we had to scramble and hike so far to get out here. It was a really odd feeling. But I was pretty proud. I was a little bit stressed because I knew there were still two more pitches to go, not to mention having to repel down. And then are they getting higher each time? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah, because to the summit, to the third pitch, it was 250 feet.

I think, maybe a little bit more, but I believe it was 250 feet. So I think we had done the longest one. You know, we were almost halfway up, if not halfway up at this point. We took our little break. And then the, you know, first team went off again. Zach and Maddie, they did the second pitch. And then this time for the second pitch after they had finished it, Jeff went first. I was in the middle.

And this time Will brought up the rear. And we start. and this one is a little different where the first pitch was kind of up vertically. This one had some kind of movement along the side and then you had to go up. We reach a point where, how do I explain this? It's what looked like to be maybe a wall of 10 or 12 feet. And at the top of this wall was a flat part, almost like a platform. And everyone had told me that this was going to be the hardest part of the climb, but, you know, after this, it'll get easier.

This is objectively, maybe the, probably the hardest move. But the thing is that this flat wall was already suspended, you know, so if the ground is kind of down here, the bottom of this wall is significantly higher up. I'm really small. And so I just could not reach the top of the platform. And so what we did is that I ended up, Will kind of hoisted me up, and I ended up standing on his shoulders. Even then, you know, I could reach the top of the platform, kind of put my hands on it, but I just don't have a lot of upper body strength. Yeah.

So I, even though I had this height, I was trying to hoist myself up. And to the right of this platform is where we had the off width, which was a crack that kind of started narrow at the top and widened a bit further down. to the bottom of this wall. And so for leverage, I pushed my hands up on the top. I kind of pushed myself up like this on the flat part. And I wedged my knee in the crack. And I got the height that I needed where I was able to push up. And I tried to, you know, kind of push myself up, you know, and kind of hoist myself.

And then I realized my knee wouldn't move. Hey, I'm Jeremy Schwartz from American Criminal. On this season, robbery gone wrong or cold-blooded murder. Either way, Boston will never be the same. Listen to American Criminal, the murder of Carol Stewart, wherever you get your podcasts. Or to get early ad free access, subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or at American Criminal.com.

I kind of laughed a little bit. I'm like, oh, man, you know, I got my knee wedged in there. So, you know, I'm kind of trying to wiggle myself out of this and push up. You know, I'm no longer standing on Will at this point. Will is trying to help me. Jeff is, you know, at the top of the second pitch, and he's like kind of trying to pull with the rope to give me a little bit of help so that I can get up. And I said, dang it, I can't move my knee.

I don't know what's up, but I got my knee stuck. So Will was like, oh, no worries. You know, we just have to kind of wiggle it out of there. And a couple minutes pass, we're trying different positions. We're trying, you know, he kind of put himself under me so that we could try to lift me up a little bit and move it out. We tried wiggling it in different positions. So basically it was just like a crack between the rocks. Yes.

Okay. The best way I can explain it is so my knee was wedged in, but my calf was still free. Okay. So I could still move. It was literally just the knee. that I wedged in for leverage. Got it. But I could still move my, you know, the bottom part of my leg.

But just it was such an odd position that I was in, you know, because I was like kind of folded in half with my knee wedged in, the other leg just kind of out to the side. And I couldn't get my knee out. And so. Which is weird because like you would think if you had any mobility, especially in the bottom half. That's what I'm saying is I could move my calf. I could move my feet, you know, I. I could even move my thigh a little bit.

It was just your knee. It was my knee that was pinched on either side, kind of like this. And so after five or ten minutes, I kind of started to panic a little bit, especially because Zach and Maddie had already made it to the top of the third pitch. Jeff was still at the top of the second pitch, but mind you, at this point, he's just holding me. You know, he's just holding me. So I'm attached by, I'm basically hanging from the harness and from my knee. Now, the area that you were in was it pretty flat?

Like other than your knee being stuck, were you like pretty comfortable or no? No, I was hanging. My feet were not on the ground because this little wall part was already above. Okay. So you were more like this rather than this. I was hanging. Okay. I was hanging with my knee stuck and the other leg dangling.

Got it. So basically suspended. So hanging from the rope and the harness that Jeff was holding and then from my knee. That is so bizarre to get stuck in that position. I think that was, yeah, that was the main thing is I was so uncomfortable. You know, I was so uncomfortable because were you in shorts? No, I was in pants. That comes into play later.

But it was because it was January and it's kind of toasty, you know, when the sun is shining. and when you're climbing, you can get really warm. I felt it was a little bit like skiing where if you overlayer, you're going to end up really sweating. But I still decided, you know, just in case I'm going to wear long pants. I don't want to get cold. I had, you know, a sweatshirt on and I had my coat in my bag just in case. But I'm stuck in this weird position and I start to panic. And the issue was that, like I said, Zach and Maddie were already at the top.

They were already at the summit. Jeff is just kind of holding me. at this point. And so we decide, we just kind of start shouting up for Zach and Maddie, and we try to tell them what's going on. What Jeff decides to do is so he found a spot where he could kind of tie the rope off. He would still be able to, you know, give me slack or pull it tighter if need be, but he found a way to kind of tie it off so that he wasn't holding it the whole time. It was just safer that way, and that way, you know, he's not like getting rope burns or anything like that. We're yelling back and forth, and it's really hard to hear. Because, you know, there's like

100 feet, maybe 150 feet of a distance between us. We shout and we explain what's happening, and Zach decides that he's going to repel down and he's going to try to help. At this point, you know, I'm panicking, but I'm not in full. I wouldn't say it's quite that bad yet. You know, I'm worried, I'm stressed, I'm uncomfortable. But, you know, Zach comes down and he seems pretty confident that we can get out of this. He's like, this happens to people all the time. You know, it's no big deal. We just have to try and, you know, wiggle you out of this.

Or maybe we can pour some water on your leg and, you know, slide it out. So Will and Zach took turns where one of them, you know, was standing and the other would sit on their shoulders so that they could. they could kind of hold me because it was giving me relief from the harness that was pulling, you know, like this and from my knee. So they were kind of pushing me up a little bit so I could get some relief from that pressure and so that I could try to wiggle my knee out. So we were trying these various positions, you know, one of them is holding the other, they're holding me. I'm trying all these ways of, you know, like pushing like this, pushing like that, trying to wiggle my calf. it's just not coming out.

And when I tried to pull, it would hurt, you know. So then the next idea was Zach takes out a water bottle and he said, let's try and pour some water. You know, since we can see the top of your knee, let's try and pour some water in to wet everything, and then maybe you'll be able to slide it out. We tried this, but I was wearing these Jim Shark leggings. that are like skin tight, and they just absorbed all the water. I mean, it did nothing. If anything,

it just made me cold because it ran down my leg and it got into my sock and my shoe. And I ended up having to take the shoe off because, you know, it was wet and it just made me really cold. It didn't do anything. They swapped positions at one point. We really just kept trying, but it wasn't budging. Well, I guess in the sense that it moved a little bit. bit, but it wasn't coming out. It was just pinched on both sides, but it was driving me nuts that I could move the rest of my body. I could move my lower leg, but this wasn't moving. It was like pinching the like your knee bone or something. Yeah, on either side. At that point, I really, really started to panic. How long at this point do you think you were stuck?

I think I got stuck maybe around four or four-thirty. It's tough to say. So maybe about half an hour had passed at this point. And I wanted to relay the message to the others that I think we needed to call for help. And even though I was worried about calling for help, I just thought I was thinking about the terrain and how long it took us to scramble up there. I'm like, even if we end up getting my leg out on our own, I want to call for help just in case because it's going to take them a while to get here.

And so that you know, for peace of mind, help is on the way. That too. Did you have service? I didn't have my phone on me. Okay. Will's phone didn't have service. Zach's didn't either. So what he did was he climbed back up and he met up with Jeff and Maddie.

Jeff had gone just to the summit at this point so he could talk to Maddie. And Jeff was the only one that had service, I think. Or at the very least, he's the one that ended up calling. But we are kind of shouting back and forth. And Zach was like, I think we could still try a little bit longer. Maybe we shouldn't call yet. And I don't want to put any blame on him. He genuinely thought that we could figure it out, you know?

And I understand that. But I said, just in case, if we get out before they get here, we can just call them and tell them that. But I just have this feeling that it's going to take them a long time to get here. And I'm assuming there was nobody else in sight. No. No. I mean, we had seen some hikers when we made it to the top of the first pitch.

but at that point we didn't see anyone else. And I knew that it was going to get dark and it was going to get cold and I just had this sinking feeling. It took us so long to get there in the daytime. It's going to, I don't know how long it's going to take someone to get here. And at this point, I mean, yes, I'm in pain, but more than anything, I'm uncomfortable, you know, so I kind of have this urgency in my voice where I'm trying to shout up for them to hear me, please call.

Just, I mean, we just, I think we need to do this. We need to call. please call. So Jeff ends up calling. And mind you, like I said, we can't really hear them that well. But the reason they went to the top was because at least it was flat. It wouldn't really have been safe for all of them to stay at the top of the second pitch or down where we were. It was safer for them to just be at the top and be together. So we can't really hear, but Jeff ends up calling for help. He calls 911 and they reroute him to rescue services. And he told him, me later, I didn't hear it, but he told me later, you know, they're asking for details,

they're asking for what happened. They want to know where we are. And he says, uh, queen Victoria, you know, and then the rescuers just kind of had to figure it out from there. Because it is a known climb, but we weren't in the city. We were kind of just off on this route. So they at that point are at the top of the third pitch, you know, at the summit. Jeff has tied off the rope so that I at least can hang and he doesn't have to hold it the whole time. And it's just me and Will. Time felt, I don't know if time stopped. I don't know if time went really fast.

But what I can tell you is as I'm hanging there, I saw the moon go from behind the mountains to up in the sky as it got dark. and I just kept waiting and waiting and thinking, oh my God, what is taking so long? What is taking so long? I know that it's tough to rain, but I knew that this is going to be complicated. I mean, I knew why I was taking a long time, but I was so uncomfortable. I really think more than the pain. And scared, I'm sure. More than the pain, the discomfort that I was in was unbelievable.

And I really, while we were waiting, they just said, okay, we're going to call you back when we have a plan. So we didn't know when they were going to come. We didn't know what the situation was going to be. I felt like I was just crumbling from the inside out. I alternated between, you know, hysterical sobbing to just kind of shaking to silence. And I don't, it's going to sound dramatic to maybe those that haven't been in a situation where they felt unsafe. But I don't know why I thought I was going to die. I really... Because that's normal.

I need to like bang into your head that the feelings that you've been feeling are normal. That's normal. Because I think naturally we think about it. First of all, you've never been in a situation like that. You're in the middle of nowhere technically. Even though this is a place that people climb. Yeah.

Like this is still very far into you. And your fucking knee is stuck in a rock on a fucking mountain. Okay? I would think I was dying too. Especially just because we talked about this a little bit before, but all I could think about was 127 hours and how that man had to cut off his arm. There's movies about this shit. Yes.

Granted, different circumstances he was by himself. But I just kept thinking, oh my God, if I have to get my leg amputated, I'm going to kill everyone here. I'm not going to be able to ride anymore. I'm going to kill them all, you know. No, but like, but that's the thing is I think our minds naturally go to, like, like the worst possible outcome. Yeah. And that's not right to say, you know, obviously it's not their fault that this happened.

But in that moment, I just kept thinking, what are the circumstances that led me here? Why did they tell me that this was safe? Why did they bring me here? Because it's what's going through your head. I don't think any of these things now. But in the moment, I really was just like, how could they call this beginner? Did this happen to me because I'm short and I didn't have upper body strength and I, you know, got my knees. stuck, you know, why did you bring me here? Everything is going through my head. And I was just

cycling through these emotions where I thought, I'm not afraid to die. I have pretty strong faith, so truly I'm not afraid of death. If anything, I kind of craved it. It sounds really sad to say that, but I was so uncomfortable. I mean, I'm basically like this. You know, the other knee is scratching up against the rock. This knee is stuck. I'm so uncomfortable and in so much pain just from this awkward position that I'm in. I genuinely just kind of wanted to die because I didn't know when they were coming. I didn't know how long I could wait in this position. There was nothing I could do, but at the same time, I'm still able to move parts of my body. I just felt so helpless and I felt like the butt of the joke. You know, they brought the new person.

along climbing, who's never climbed outdoors, and on her first climb, she gets her knee stuck. I just really felt like the butt of the joke. That's all I could think about. And I just kind of started, like, alternating between being quiet and kind of, I don't know if I was shouting. I think I was because Jeff later told me he heard some of what I was saying. I was just like, can someone hit me over the head so I pass out? and I don't have to be awake for this.

You know, either they come get me or they don't. I just don't want to keep experiencing this. You know, anything is better than being in this position. I think anybody that's been in a situation where they feel like there's a chance that they could die and that isn't dramatic at all, I think that your mind goes to like the craziest and the worst places. Also, who would want to feel that way? Like, that's terrifying. I also just couldn't see a way out.

Right. You know, I couldn't see a way out of this that didn't involve more pain. You know what I mean? So it really, it sounds odd to say that, but I wasn't afraid of dying. I was just afraid of everything that was leading up to it. And I felt like mentally I couldn't take it. Yeah, you had like some odds in your favor. Like you had people with you and you guys had service to call for help.

But like there could have been a situation where even those circumstances didn't. help you or it didn't matter. Kind of like what you were saying in the beginning, you can't really compare your experiences to anyone else's better or worse. Like, you were terrified and uncomfortable. And that's all that matters. Like literally. And that's fucking terrifying. But you know what I'm saying? Like it doesn't, you're just like, you're just such a sweet person. I know that you are. And like you're somebody that like you want to make sure that like, you know, like you don't say anything that is wrong or could hurt anybody, which I get, and that's a good way to be.

But what you experienced is scary. And like I said, there's movies about it. And it makes me think about like, it's like if somebody got stranded in the ocean, but like they were saved. So it doesn't compare to somebody that was stranded and didn't make it. But that's not true. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

It doesn't matter. Like you getting saved, like yes, thank fucking God you're here and you're fine. You still have your leg. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you, your fucking knee was stuck in a rock for six hours and no one around you could help you. Yeah. It was just, I think the feeling of being helpless. Yeah. In a way is worse than the fear and everything else. Right. It's like my decisions led me up to this moment and now I'm in a position where I can't do anything. Yeah. And then you're like beating yourself up. Like how am I here? Why am I here? Why am I here?

I didn't want to do this. You know, I'm angry at everyone that I'm with. I'm. I'm just frustrated. I am loudly shouting about how I would like to be dead. And these people that I obviously, you know, my boyfriend was with me and he's not having a great time. But, you know, Jeff told me he heard that. He's like, later he told me I heard some pretty heartbreaking things. And I felt embarrassed that those most vulnerable moments were also heard. Yeah.

But I just, anything was coming out of my mouth. Right. I think I even said to Will, why did you bring me here? which was a really cruel thing to say because it wasn't his fault. But I was just so, so miserable. I couldn't, the discomfort, I really wish I could explain. Because I think I've been in worse pain before, but it was that discomfort that I just couldn't get over in the fact that there was no end in sight. Yeah, and I think, too, it doesn't necessarily have to do with the pain, but the circumstances were, there was no guarantee.

you didn't have like a set understanding of what the outcome was going to do. And especially because the rescue stuff is taking so long. So in the meantime, you know, while I'm hanging and I'm going through every single emotion you can possibly go through, I'm watching the moon go from behind the mountains to in the sky. It's now dark. We get a call back. So it was pitch black. At that point, it was pitch black.

Yeah, because it's January. You know, the sunset really early, which is part of why I see. said we kind of messed up by not leaving earlier in the day. But in the midst of all of that, while this is happening, everyone up at the summit is, you know, waiting for the callback from the rescue to hear what's going to happen. And when they do get a call, they basically said, okay, this is going to be a tricky situation because of the terrain, you know, it's nighttime and where you guys are. We have a general plan where we're going to send two teams. One team is going to come on the ground and they're going to scramble up and they're going to climb up to

where you are. And when I heard that, you know, my stomach like sank to my asshole because I thought about how long it took us to get there during the day. And I thought they're going to do that at night. And they were not on their way yet? No, not yet. Because they had to kind of map out what they were going to do because of the circumstance. I understand, you know, they really had to figure out what they were going to do before they got it in motion. But I heard that and I just kind of thought, oh my God, I'm going to be here for hours. I think that made it so much worse. I thought, I'm going to be here for so much longer than I can withstand. They said that the second team was going to come by helicopter and they were going to try to figure out where they could land or deposit someone down to help

get my leg out. When I heard that, I freaked out for a different reason. Because I thought, oh my God, they're getting a helicopter involved for someone that's never even been climbing before. I'm using all these resources. I don't even live in Arizona. What is this going to cost? How is this happening to me? How did I get myself in this situation? So, mind you, they get the call.

And then they're trying to shout to us to relay all this information. And we're not hearing very well. And I'm just freaking out with everything that they say because I'm like, they're sending people from the ground. It's going to take them so long to get there, you know? You know, you're not thinking rationally in that moment. You're not thinking they have to map out what they're going to do. You're not thinking they need to approach this the safest way possible.

You're just like, please get me out of this situation. I can't believe I'm here. Please, please help me, you know. So time keeps passing. I really don't know how much time is passing. I just kind of know what time it was towards the end. But in between all of this, you know, I'm still there with Will. He's trying his best to comfort me while I am still cycling between panic attacks, sobbing and silence. You know, he's trying to get me to drink water. It's dark and we hear a helicopter. We see the lights and we hear a helicopter approaching. And they get a, I don't know, no, they got a call later, but the helicopter approaches and it kind of circles. around the spire and then it leaves.

The helicopter left and I feel like I had another meltdown all over again. I just thought, yeah, like, do they not see us? I was like trying to wave. You know, we had our lights on. They had lights pointed at us, but they left. And so I'm like trying to shout up, you know, obviously it's windy too. It's really cold. I'm trying to shout and ask what happened, what happened?

Can you call them? They called Jeff back and they said that. Actually, you know what? I think I made a slight mistake. I don't think they were at the summit. I think that they were at the top, like somewhere in between the second pitch and the summit. And so what had happened was the helicopter came, kind of saw the situation, and realized that the three of them weren't at the top. And so they called back and they said, hey, because the terrain is so difficult, we need you three to be at the top and kind of anchor yourselves to something.

because when the helicopter comes, it's going to feel like a tornado or a hurricane is passing by. Where you were wasn't safe. We need you three to be at the top and hold on to each other, hold on to something, you know, and then Will and Christine will be okay where they are. But they had to leave to be able to call us and say, you have to be in the right position. Obviously, this makes sense to me now. Yeah. In the moment, I'm freaking out because it's been hours. You're thinking about yourself too.

You don't know what's happening up there where you're not. No, because we can barely hear them. You know, we're having trouble communicating. So we don't, I don't even know if at this point we were seeing anyone on the ground. I think we had noticed when they parked because we could see the parking lot, you know. We had noticed when they parked and their flashlights and when they started. But they were moving so slowly, obviously, because they can't see anything, you know, and it's steep. So I'm freaking out.

But I think Jeff, who wasn't at the top, ends up. going fully all three of them to the summit now so they can kind of anchor themselves. So they called back when they were up there. They said, okay, we're in position now. You can come back. And they said, what we're going to try to do is we can't land anywhere. We don't think we can land on the spire yet. What we're going to start by doing is we're going to lower someone down on a rope to the little area where Will and Christine are. And then this man, this rescuer, is going to try. and get her leg out. And if that doesn't work, then we will proceed to the second plan, which is they'll actually

land the helicopter at the top, you know, at the summit, and they'll have another one or two people come out and try to repel down and also help. So for this to happen, I mean, I feel like when the helicopter came, left, came back, I don't know how much time passed, but when the helicopter came back, they had to get really close close, you know, because they were going to deposit. The deposit is a weird word. They were going to the guy was going to come down from the rope and he was going to be on our little ledge. The helicopter coming was a relief, but it was also awful. The amount of wind and noise and dust and rocks and everything that it was picking up, I felt like I was in a tornado

swinging from where I was stuck. It was just such a horrible moment of all this wind passing by and it's taking so long, you know, we're holding on to everything so that things don't blow away. I'm just, I don't know how many hours it's been at this point. But the guy comes down on the rope, and I still remember his name. His name was Russ. And he is exceedingly calm, while I am the least calm patient or victim that you could have to deal with. You know, we're trying to explain the situation. We're trying to explain what we We tried. He is assessing everything. And at this point, did he have a flashlight? He did. Yeah. He had like a headlamp and, you know, he had flashlights and stuff. I had been stuck. I want to say for

four or four and a half hours at this point, at least four. And I'm at the point where I was saying the most wild things to him. I said, can you please sedate me? Can you please sedate me? So I don't have to be awake for this. I'm so uncomfortable. I don't know what you have to try. Can you please sedate me? And at the beginning, you know, he's trying to assess the situation and get out his tools. He's kind of ignoring me. And I keep repeating it because I'm so frantic. And he says, no, I can't sedate you because of the position you're in and because of the situation you need to be awake. He's just like, no. And I'm so frustrated with just everything that's happening. The first thing that he does is he pulls out the world's tiniest chisel.

I wish I was kidding, but it's like a little tiny pickaxe is what he pulls out. And originally before they got there, I was kind of thinking the only way I'm going to get out is if they break the rock. I don't see how they're going to do this. So he's like, I feel, I don't think this is going to work because of how you're stuck, how the rock is. I don't think we're going to be able to break it. But we'll give it a try. I was like, please, can you try that? So he pulls out this tiny chisel and gives a little try where he's like tapping at the rock under my leg.

I mean, and he can just tell that hi, hi again, that it's just not going to work. Right. You know, Will is explaining what we tried with the water and how that didn't help. And this man pulls out dish soap. I later found out that this was like a last minute grab. Like he was one foot out the door and then thought, wait a second, I should grab a lubricant and went back and grab the dish soap. Which I feel like would benefit you if you had like shorts on. Right.

But I also was like, what was your plan otherwise? You had the tiny chisel and the dish soap and what was the plan otherwise? Yeah. You know? So he pulls out dish soap. And the position is so awkward, but you know, he's like up top trying to pour the dish soap on my leg. Will is at the bottom trying to pull my leg out. But these Gymshark pants, I mean, this might as well be an ad for Jim Shark because of how good quality the pants are.

These pants are absorbing everything and they are not budging. I'm trying to like pull the fabric. Nothing is budging. So, you know, all of this, I mean, it sounds like it's. happening pretty fast, but it's all, it's taking like an hour, you know, and we're trying everything. The dish soap isn't working. So at this point, he radios his team and he's telling them, I think we might need to have the other team come down and try to assist, you know, which is not helping. At this point, I kind, the best way I can explain is I felt like I was fading. I just felt like I was

barely there. I don't know if it was hypothermia because I was really cold. Fatigue, just, I just felt like the tank was on empty and I'm like not really responding at this point. I'm not even really able to help like try to pull myself. I'm just that's the best way I can explain it is. So the last ditch effort. And mind you, the helicopter came back and landed on the summit and people are getting ready to repel down. He finds scissors in his bag and we have the mammoth task of trying to figure out to cut my pants because the idea was if we can get the skin exposed and get the soap on it, we might actually be able to slip the knee out. But the gym shark pants are skin tight.

Exactly. But my calf was loose. You know, I could still move my foot. So I don't remember who was up top and who was at the bottom. Someone is up top trying to like pull the fabric. Because like I said, I can't even really help and participate at this point. I was almost unresponsive is the best way I can explain it. And whoever's on bottom, maybe it was Russ, is like trying to get the scissors and cut up the pant leg.

And even when we managed to cut the leg part, you know, the calf part, we're trying to yank the fabric back to expose the knee. And even that is hurting. At this point, everything is so sensitive. I'm so wedged in there. It hurts so bad trying to pull that. It takes multiple efforts of, you know, yanking with all of our might to get the, fabric back and pouring the dish soap and trying to keep pulling. And then my leg pops out. My leg pops out and I, everything just seemed okay at that point. I didn't care about anything

else. I didn't care about the fact that I was in pain. I didn't care about, I don't know what this is going to cost. I just, I was so relieved because my leg was out. We didn't have to amputate it. We didn't have to side off like the guy did it in 127 hours, you know. The wave of relief that I felt was just unbelievable, especially considering I had been kind of listless for the last half hour. But my leg pops out and we kind of have to shout up to Jeff, you know, who has the rope tied off. I'm like, Jeff, Jeff, can you give us some slack?

You know, we're going to lower her because I'm still suspended, you know. So he unties the rope and he lowers me and I am able to just kind of. sit on this uncomfortable ledge. I'm barefoot. I'm freezing. I don't even care. I just didn't care. I was so happy that my leg was out. Mind you, nothing was done at this point. Now we had to get out. And I didn't know what we were going to do because, you know, there's five of us. I didn't know if they were going to like expect us to repel down. I didn't know if they were just going to get me out and make everyone else repel down. But what ended up happening is they were going to bring the helicopter back and they were going

to swing down a rope and some equipment. And they were going to take Will up first and then I was going to go with Russ, the rescuer. So they bring down some equipment and it's almost like a jacket that you slip on. You know, it has sleeves and everything. And then you prepare the hook that you're going to hook yourself to. and then it kind of just picks you up like this, almost like if you pick a cat up by their neck a little bit, and it just lifts you up.

So Will goes first, and honestly, he kind of looked like he was having the time of his life. You know, he gets lifted up. Next, they lower everything back down, and Russ is going to try to,

you know, attach himself to me and also have our gear because we had a little bit of stuff that was there. You know, I put on the jacket sleeve thing, and we're attached to each other, and we get hoisted up and I just don't care about anything. I don't even think I absorbed the fact that I was about to ride in a helicopter.

I'd never done that before. I didn't even care, you know? Yeah. We get hoisted up in there. He pulls us in and I just felt like all of the adrenaline, you know, was finally leaving my body. I was able to relax. I was able to breathe properly. I don't think I absorbed a single second of the helicopter ride.

It was only a few minutes, but it brought us down. And then I had Russ on one side, and I think an EMT on the other side, because obviously an ambulance had been called. And the two of them are kind of hoisting me out and helping me hobble to the ambulance. And, you know, Will comes over and he takes the place of one of them and is helping me walk. And that's when I realized I could walk. I just heard her purr really loudly. But that's when I realized I could walk. I mean, my knee was really fat and I was in a lot of pain.

So your knee was swollen? Yeah. Okay. But I could walk. I kind of hobbled, half walked to the ambulance. I get in. Will is there. and then they tell me that they're going to send the helicopter back up to go get the remaining three,

which I thought was great because I would have felt really bad if they had to repel down. And I mean, mind you, I know I was the one that was stuck, but no one else was having a good time. We were all freezing. They were at the top of the spire for hours. So I was really glad that the helicopter was able to land next to them and then brought them down. I think they brought Jeff and then they brought Zach and Maddie. and everyone got to go in the ambulance to be checked out as well. And then it was in the ambulance that, you know, I was asked questions by the EMTs.

I was checked out. They were checked out. And then I had to answer questions for the police report because obviously firefighters and ambulance are there, but the police is there as well, just to be able to ask questions and put together a report. During this time, Maddie and Jeff stayed in the ambulance with me. because they were also experiencing, you know, kind of mild hypothermia worse than the other two. So what Will and Zach did is they went with someone else, I think, by ATV to go to the cars, to be able to bring the cars back because we still had to, you know, the cars weren't able to come that close.

So they were going to go get the cars. And then we heard that the rescuers that were coming on foot were going to grab our stuff that was at the base of the spire, which was really, really nice of them. and I have a vague recollection of being in the ambulance. I'm still, you know, the adrenaline is coming down. And this guy opens the door. And he's like, we got all your stuff, guys. You know, and he hands it to us.

And we're thanking him profusely. And the guy has his hand bandaged up. The EMT's like, hey, man, what happened? He said, I fell on this plant. And I just thought, oh, my God, someone else had the same experience as me. I'm so sorry, dude. He said, yeah, my hand is swollen and it's all tingly. I said, I fell on that plant.

But your hand was fine at this point. At this point, the hand was the least of my concerns. I had wrapped it up and it was still hurting, but, you know, I just thought, man, someone had the same experience as me. It just made me laugh a little bit in the moment. But we thank them so much because they went and got everything. And the way they had made it sound was the helicopter had kind of turned everything into, I'm so sorry. You're okay. Had kind of turned everything into a yard sale where it just scattered our stuff everywhere. They managed to find everything. My phone wasn't even cracked, unbelievable. They found everything and they brought it back to us, which was really, really nice of them. So after all, it is really good that the team came on foot. So while Zach and Will went to go get the cars, I'm in the ambulance, I get looked at. And they kind of clean up my knee, but the skin wasn't even broken.

It was just really, really swollen and really, really sensitive. but they were like, and the fact that you walked on it, I mean, we don't think anything's broken. And I said, do I have to go to the hospital? They said, we can't legally tell you no, like we think you should, but it is up to you. We don't think anything's broken, you know, and I said, I think I'm okay. I don't want to go to the hospital, which maybe in hindsight wasn't smart, but I was so exhausted in that moment, I couldn't imagine having to have, you know, the hour-long ride to whatever the nearest hospital was having to be processed there. Because I just could feel that I was in pain,

but I could feel that I was okay. I really just wanted to go home and hug my dog, you know. After they clean me up and they kind of bandage it, you know, they suggested, you know, putting ice on it for a few days. And if things don't get better, maybe go see a doctor. when I get home or something. But then we talked to the police. And I should say I was really nervous about this part. I mean, I think I told you when I heard that a helicopter was being called, I panicked. I really, really panicked because all I could see were, you know, bills and dollar signs and everything.

But Will told me before they even got there, Christine, you don't have to worry. Search and rescue in Arizona is free. Wow. And the reason that it's free is because they don't want people. to not call because this is a state where people come and hike, they come and climb, they do mountain biking, they do all this stuff, all this kind of stuff. They don't want you to go, get hurt, and then not call because you're afraid of the cost. Search and rescue in Arizona is free. So that made me feel a bit better, but I still kept thinking, oh my God, are they going to be

mad at me that I used these resources? You know, so the cops come. The police officer that interviewed us was actually really nice. I was really worried about that part, but he was really nice. He just had to ask, you know, standard questions. There were, but that part was embarrassing too, you know, because he had to ask, so what's your experience rock climbing? I've climbed a little bit. What? This is my first time climbing outdoors. Okay. Can you tell us your address? And I was like, like where I'm staying in Arizona or my actual address? He's said your actual address so that I had to tell him, oh, you know, on the East Coast. I was just, like I said, this feeling of being the butt of the joke just kept coming back.

It just, I couldn't believe it, you know, that I'm using all these resources, all these people's time. They're taking the time out of their day to do this extensive operation. I'm not even from here. I don't even know what I'm doing. I don't climb, you know. I was just really, really embarrassed. And they asked, you know, what did you try before you call? called for help. They just wanted to be able to put all that in the report. Not a single moment did

they make it feel like it was my fault or anyone else's fault, which was really nice. The EMTs also told me that they had helped people in worse situations like this happens. In Sedona, you see all sorts of crazy things. There was a guy that had fallen 600 feet and got stuck and they, you know, had to go help him. So, you know, everyone was making me feel better, which did help. I just was embarrassed having to say that to the policeman, you know. And then he said, you know, there's going to be media stories about it, which hadn't really occurred to me at that point. You know, it's up to you whether or not you want to give your name and your information to the media. You know, we need to take your information and they're going to ask us, but I said, please don't give them my name

and please don't give them my information. Obviously, you have it so you can contact me. if need be, but I don't want to tell them anything. You know, but they had to take everyone's information, you know, everyone's names and their contact info, their addresses and things like that. And then when they, when I told them, I think I'm okay. I want to go home. They said, okay, you can, you're welcome to leave. We'll call you tomorrow to check on you, but you're good to go.

I just didn't understand how literally and figuratively I was walking away from that situation. figuratively I'm walking away with no bills and literally I'm walking away from it you know I'm walking on my own two feet I'm in a lot of pain but I'm out of that situation that felt never ending so and I'm of course apologizing profusely to everyone else in our group at this point I'm not blaming them not that I should have to begin with, but I'm not blaming them. I'm just apologizing that they were cold for so long. They were at the top for like several hours, you know, just waiting, trying to call for help. I apologize to Jeff because he heard a lot of the depressing things I was saying, you know, and I think Zach was trying to make me feel better. He was like, Christine, you know, might have been the worst day

of your life, but I got to ride in a helicopter, I got to ride on an ATV. Don't feel bad, you know. And what they were also telling me is that this can happen to anyone. It happens to experience climbers all the time because off-wits are not something you can practice that easily. They said that there was a very, there's a very famous video of, he's a professional climber who, he was filming the whole thing. He was climbing outdoors and he got his knee stuck in an off-width and he pooped his pants on camera. And they were like, you're not. not even a professional climber and you didn't poop your pants. And I said, it's all because I didn't have coffee. Yep. And I didn't have anything unsafe to eat that morning. Did you pee? I, throughout the

entire time I was stuck, I actually didn't feel the need to go to the bathroom at all. I think it was the adrenaline. It was actually when I came down, I was in the ambulance and I was like, oh my God, you guys, I really have to pee. Where can I pee? And they said, if you want, you can just step out and pee next to the ambulance. So I went out and I hobbled around and I just had to go to of the bathroom, but it's like all of that, I don't know if it was God looking out for me or just, you know, I was able to set all of that aside just to focus on getting out of that situation and then experiencing all of the rest once I was safe. Those pants got some grip.

Those pants. I still have the ripped pants. I feel like I don't know what to do with them, but I feel like I can't get rid of them, you know. Then we went home. We went home. We drove back to some. We drove back to Southern Arizona that night. It was really late, but I just wanted to be home. We got home and I took a shower, just tried to get all of the dust and everything off of me. My leg was hurting so bad. It was huge at this point. I mean, my knee was gigantic. And the other leg was bruised as well just from being pushed up against the rock for so long. But like I said, the skin wasn't even broken. So I was having a really hard time judging if anything was wrong or not, you know.

And this might also sound odd, but I have a really close relationship with my parents, and I was trying to decide the next day if I should tell them anything. Around this time, my family was going through a lot of hardships. They already had a lot of things that were weighing on them. And I was wondering if I should even tell them what happened because it would scare them. And I didn't want to add that to their plate. But I also thought, you know, my mom would want to know. My mom is in the medical field.

She's not a doctor, but she works in that field. And I just knew she would want to know. And at this point, I was safe. You know, everything was okay. So I thought, okay, I'm just, I'll tell her. And props to her. She was very calm on the phone when I told her. You know, because obviously she's back at home.

She's not here. She can't see me. She was about to actually go on a trip, so she wasn't going to be able to see me before I got home. She very calmly listened to me, explain everything, and she said, okay, either today or tomorrow, you need to go to urgent care and just get looked at. She said, it doesn't matter if you can walk, it doesn't matter this or that, I just want someone to take a look at you. I understand why you didn't go to the hospital, but just go, have someone take a look at you. I said, okay, if you're this passionate about it, I will. What she didn't tell me because she didn't want me to freak out is she was worried about

compartment syndrome, which can happen when you like have a part of your body, a limb or, you know, a foot or something stuck for a long period of time and the blood vessels aren't being able to flow. The blood can't flow to that area. It can happen even like if you're laying on one side for too long and you can't flip over. You know what I mean? So she was worried about that because depending on how I was stuck, compartment syndrome could set in. And that has led to people having to lose their limbs or things like that. So that was her main fear.

Honestly, I think the only reason that that didn't happen is because of the way I was stuck. Because of the fact that it was on either side of my knee, I could still move. You know, I wasn't completely, completely stuck in that sense. I think that's why. So the next day I did go to urgent care. I, in hindsight, this is kind of odd. They didn't take an x-ray because they saw me walk around and they said, if something was broken, you wouldn't be able to walk.

So we don't think anything is broken. But you look like you have, what do you call it? Like, they were basically telling me, you're just very swollen and it's going to take time for it to come down. But if it doesn't improve, like if you're still feeling pain over the next week or so, you know, when you get home, because I was going to go home in a week. When you're home, you know, you could maybe pursue looking into it, which I thought, I think that's what I'll do. I'm going to see if I can set up an appointment with someone, like a knee doctor at home. But they, like they said, you're fine. You know, genuinely, you're really swollen and it's going to

hurt a lot. Don't push yourself and listen to your body, but they didn't even do an x-ray, you know, so I went home. My knee was gigantic. Over the next week, week and a half, when I did go home, it went through, it looked like every single color of the rainbow. What's really odd is I think that I had pinched a bunch of blood vessels. So even though the skin wasn't broken, as it healed, it's like all the blood rose to the top and formed a giant scab. So two weeks in, I had a massive scab that was bleeding. It was really odd. I did go see a doctor when I got home just to be safe. I just was really paranoid at that point. And I thought, I know I'm okay, but I want to be sure. And I should just get this looked at for peace of mind. So I got an x-ray

done. The x-ray didn't show anything. I actually got an MRI done of that knee. And at that point, the MRI was done almost a month later, because it takes a little while to schedule. So I get an MRI done of my knee. And I was kind of expecting, like, Christine, you're being dramatic. You can walk. Nothing's wrong. The MRI found that there was a whole lot of liquid and swelling around the muscles. There was even some bruising on the bone. But I think what it's called as effusion when you have liquid and swelling around the joints. So nothing was broken, but I had been stuck long enough, obviously, for that liquid to pool, for the muscles to be pinched, and for the bone to have a bruise. They basically told me, though, that this is going to heal on its

own. We don't know how long it'll take. I think you can resume exercise whenever you want. You can ride whenever you want. You know, just listen to your body, and if it hurts, don't do it. And I want to say within a month and a half, I was back to normal. I could walk fine. I was horseback riding. The bruising was mostly gone. And that was kind of it. I should mention the part about the news.

I think I mentioned that a little bit earlier. But literally the day after, you know, when I'm still in Arizona, I get a call from the officer because he wanted to to check on me, which I appreciated. Everyone was really kind. He called to ask how I was doing. He said that they didn't give my information to the media, but be aware that they might reach out. Just don't worry about it.

You know, you did nothing wrong. You don't owe us anything. Search and rescue is free for this reason. So that was really nice to get that call for peace of mind. I made the mistake of reading every single article online. and I know I shouldn't have. But I read everything. I wanted to read stuff from the climbing, you know, magazines to just regular news.

All of the climbing folks were really kind about it because they were like, this can happen to anyone, you know? Remember that guy who pooped his pants, you know? Everyone was really kind about it, but like, this happens, you know, that's really, really shitty. I'm so glad she's okay. But on Facebook and, you know, on various news sites, I read the articles and I read the comments. And some of it was okay. You know, some people were saying, oh, thank goodness she's okay. Thank you to our first responders for helping people.

But there were a lot of people that were like, stupid idiots should know their limits. They should have left her there. She shouldn't have done that because look at all. of our taxpayer money going to this, I hope she's footing the bill. They should have just left her there. And someone said, I hope she's paying the bill. And there would be responses like, no, it's going to be on taxpayers. There would be people arguing about whether or not I was a tourist. And if I was even from the state and, you know, people should know their limits. And we need to stop encouraging young people to go and do these crazy things these days just for thrill. And

it was just a really yucky feeling. I know now that I didn't do anything wrong, but there is still residual. You still put yourself in that situation. You're not even from Arizona, and those resources were spent on you. But what I know now is that whether or not search and rescue gets used, that money has already been spent, you know, from people's taxes. You know, I think the only thing additional that gets spent is probably helicopter fuel. but those people have their salaries paid, their equipment paid, whether or not it gets used. It's there for a reason because they don't want people to not call and die, you know, or get even more hurt.

But it was a really yucky feeling just to read those things. I'd like to see those people get their knee stuck on the side of the mountain for six hours. Or, you know, know your limits. People are thrill seekers these days. You know. Those people are bored. And I'm nothing better to do than comment that. Yeah.

It just wasn't. I understand like why, like I said, you're, you are just a nice person. So you allow things in. And like I think that can be like a good and a bad thing. But like, no. Yeah. Because you could say, oh, well, you know, you're 90 years old and you're driving. You get into an accident.

You should know your limits. You could say the same thing. You could say it about anything. Right. You deserve that just as much as an. experienced climber or a random part. Anybody deserves it. Yeah.

Like you did something for fun. Who gives a fuck? It went south. Freak accidents happen. They're very common. Yeah. And you deserve to have your leg and your life saved. Yeah.

And if anybody else thinks otherwise, they can go fuck themselves. Yeah. That's my opinion. That's kind of how I had to look at it because even though the situation was over, I feel like the emotional healing and physical healing was still ongoing because. And you don't even really think about that, I feel like. No, I really didn't. Especially because, you know, after this experience, I had to come back and finish my last semester of grad school.

You know, I had my thesis to write. I just kind of had to tuck everything away. I think I went to one therapy session and then I couldn't keep going because I just had to focus on school. So I feel like I never properly unpacked it, you know, and I told some people around me, some people that I'm close to what happened. And I would kind of joke about it. You're like, oh, I got my leg stuck, you know, ha ha. But I feel like I never properly unpacked the whole situation and how it impacted me. And the things that I said, the fact that I was so prepared to die in that moment, I really was.

I was prepared to just, if it meant that I didn't have to keep experiencing that, I would have been okay with it. I didn't really process any of those things. I still felt really bad about the things that I said to Will, you know, and feeling having bad thoughts about Zach because he was the one that suggested it. You just, it's odd the way that your brain reacts, you know, and feeling that sense of shame, that sense of shame that I put myself in that situation and this happened. And that's why I feel like it has been really hard to move on from it.

Because maybe more than anything, like, am I just embarrassed? I can't compare this to other people's trauma. This is my own experience. But I also know, you know, my parents grew up with trauma around them. They grew up in a really unsafe situation in their home country. I know a lot of people who have experienced trauma in their lives and they're still suffering from it. Can I call this trauma?

Can I call this PTSD? I don't know. That was the really tough thing. When it happens to you, it's really hard to justify that this is something worth being upset about because you're okay now. I didn't break anything. I could still walk. I could go home and ride horses.

It's a traumatizing event. Yeah. And I wanted to put two little side notes in here. In August, I won't say their names, but two of Will's friends went climbing. This was in August and they were in Colorado. They were also doing trad climbing. So the same type of climbing that I was doing. And both of them are more experienced than I am.

I would say that they're similar in skill level to Will and to Jeff and Zach, etc. But it was just the two of them. They were climbing together and they had put, like towards the top of whatever climb, they had put a sling around this pointy part to repel off of. And either the equipment or the rock broke and they fell about 60 feet. and the girl shattered both of her ankles and the guy basically broke everything but his ankles. And the reason that I ended up finding about about this is because we went to dinner with them sometime in the fall. And since they were still recovering, Will wanted to tell me, like, don't be alarmed, they're a little bit fragile.

This is what happened. and I feel like hearing that really shook me awake again. It really, it just put this pit in my stomach of, their experience happened in a matter of seconds, you know, and they were so seriously injured. I was stuck for six hours, you know, by the time I got there to when I left, we got airlifted out at probably 10.30 or 11 p.m.

I had all that happen. But I was fine. In a matter of seconds, this is what happened to them, and they were experienced climbers. So on the one hand, it showed me that this really can happen to anyone. You really don't know. You can prepare as much as possible, and freak accidents can still happen. But also, do I have the right to still be upset about this six months later? You know, now that I'm sitting here with you a year later, comparison is just really a difficult thing to overcome.

It's very different. It's very different. because like I said, it was a matter of seconds. Yeah, but it's one, it's not comparable because what happened, it's two different experiences, but what happened to them was very fast, very instant. There's a whole other type of trauma when you're stuck in one position, not knowing if you're going to live or you're going to die. They're very, very different circumstances.

They might have kind of happened in the same way, but it's not comparable. Yeah. And it also makes you think that could have been me or they could have been me. It really is all just circumstance. Right. You know, I'm really glad to say they're both recovering really well and they're fine. And, you know, even a couple months ago, there was a story about a climber in Utah who got his knee stuck. And they went through the same process that they did with me where, you know, they tried to break the rock.

They tried the lubricant. None of that worked. So they gave him ketamine. basically they gave him a horse tranquilizer to thin his blood so that his knee would kind of like deflate a little bit and they were able to get him out and so I want to mention too mental trauma is just as serious as physical trauma of things and you have to give yourself some grace for that because everybody handles things and feels differently about things mentally like it's just you can't even you can't beat yourself up or even validate yourself we don't know how

we're going to react and solve different things that we go through in life. Yeah. There might be some things that we're able to kind of push to the back end and not think about for five, even 10 years. And then it comes up years and years down the road. And then we're like, why do I feel this way? It doesn't make sense. Should I even deserve to feel this way?

That's exactly what it was. Yeah. And we deserve to feel any way that we want to feel that we're human. That's normal. It's just like we don't know how our brain is going to handle and react and kind of dissect and cope with what we've been through. Yeah, especially, you know, when you see someone that was in a similar situation and got so seriously hurt. Yeah. It is easy to compare and think, oh my gosh, I should shut up. Why am I still making a big deal out of this? You know, everyone's probably

sick of hearing of this and is saying, you didn't have a near-death experience, you know, you're fine. Right. No one was saying that. I was saying that to myself, you know, could I feel justified in culling this trauma. But, you know, then like I said, I hear the story about this climber that got rescued in a similar way. And it, I'm not, obviously I'm not happy that happened to him, but it does show me that this can happen to anyone. So it really had nothing to do with the fact that I was a beginner. It was just a circumstance where I was trying to do a difficult move, and this happened, you know. It's happened to professional. and sometimes you get out quickly and sometimes you don't.

And I was really fortunate that I got out the same day, even though it felt like an eternity. So really, since that happened, I have gone back to the gym to do some climbing. I don't particularly want to climb outdoors again. I think maybe I could be talked into doing it if it was a promise that there were no off-wits. But I just have a feeling that being back in that situation would put me in a not great place. So I have decided that. And since then, when Willa has gone climbing, I have come along, but I've stayed on the ground. I hang out with our dog and I take photos. And so that way I can still spend time with him. But I'm, I don't want to, I don't want to put myself in that position

again. So really, I, I want now for the future for me to stop thinking about this so much. obviously give myself grace when it comes up because trauma doesn't have a deadline when it goes away and I'm still working through the emotions of it. But knowing that I'm safe, I made it out, I'm able to continue doing the things that I like and love. I'm just really working on forgiving myself and moving on. I think too you need to trust yourself and listen to your gut because our intuition is a very real thing and not even just speaking to you but if there's ever something that we're not sure about don't do it if you're not sure about it or if you don't know and it's okay to listen to yourself yeah and we don't know anybody anything you know we live in this

life where yes we we love the people around us we want to do things to make others happy we want to try new things for ourselves that's all fine and great but at the end of the day it's good sometimes to be selfish. And I think that when it comes to our safety, our mental health, our physical health, it's okay to be like, I don't really want to. Yeah. Because I mean, what was the worst that could happen if I said no? I was already there. I could have just hung out, you know, on the ground. Like, yes, I came all this way, but I didn't have to climb it. And the thing is, too, is never look back and think what ifs because what's done is done. It happened. It's taught you a lot and happen to you for a reason.

Yeah. And as your life goes on, it's only going to build on your strength as a person. I think that it's going to teach you a lot about yourself and giving yourself grace and being like, it's okay that I feel this way and it's okay that this happened. Yeah. We can't live in this world worrying about what people think at all. Because if you do, you're going to go in circles and circles and you're going to drive yourself insane. I'm like, you don't need that at all. Like, you need the things that happen to us.

We got to take it in, deal with it head on, let it go. Yeah. And I don't expect myself to have to get over it by any point, but I don't want it to have a hold over me anymore. No, and it shouldn't. So I hope that if anyone else is struggling with something similar, you know, if you're blaming yourself for a situation that you feel like you put yourself in, it's not your fault. Things happen to everyone, whether you're prepared or not. We were prepared. If anything, the only mistake we made was starting our climb late, you know? But the thing is, too, we all face things in life where you could blame yourself.

Yeah. Whether it's something big or small. But like I said, we can't go on day by day, like harboring on those things because there is no solution. Like what's done is done. Yeah. All we can do is learn from it. and let it go.

Yeah. You know? And that's not just, I mean, shit, if I had an experience like that, that's a, I think, too, when you live a life that's pretty normal and then something like that happens, it's going to stand out. Our trauma stand out for a reason, whether it's death, something that happens to us directly. I mean, I've had people in this show that get diagnosed with cancer and then, yeah, they're healed

now and their cancer free, thank God. But does that mean that they're true? trauma of being diagnosed with cancer is any less than those that get diagnosed and don't make it? No. Like it's all on the same level, if not more, if not. Who knows who cares? But you are allowed to have trauma and to feel it and to call it trauma. You know?

Yeah. And like I said, this is just the person that you are clearly. But like you don't need to make excuses for anything. You just don't. like yeah i i do realize that you also don't know how you're going to react yeah in the situations everyone told me that i handled it well i don't know that i did but i appreciate them saying that right you know it is what it is i'm just really lucky that i feel really lucky that you know god was looking out for me i had people looking out for me and and that you made it i made it yeah

yeah i can continue to do the things that that I love. I didn't have to give up horseback riding. I can walk. I'm all good. Right. You know. And now you're here talking about it on a platform in a very therapeutic good way.

I feel like it helps you. It's going to help other people. And it doesn't have to be people that have gone rock climbing. It can be all different sorts of trauma and all different things that affect our mental health. So I think that if anything, you've taken this experience and turned it into something that can really help yourself and others. I mean, like there's genuinely, like we were talking about,

there's movies that are made about these kind of experiences. So it's basically like taking your experience and turning it into the story time, but in a very positive informational educational way. Thank you for saying that. I really do hope that, you know, someone can get something good out of this. They will, really. And you did such an incredible job. Thank you.

Yeah, I was like, I was sucked in. I felt like I was watching it. I was seeing it. I was watching it while listening. Do you want to see photos? Yes. All right. You have to show me.

Oh my God. But no, you did amazing. Thank you. And thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. I'm so glad that you wanted to come here and talk about this. Really. Thank you.

Of course. I really appreciate it. Of course.