Accident in Mind Bender

[MiCamp]

After finishing Not Mind Bender today and walking back to our car we ran into a group of four who had helped rescue a solo canyoneer from Mind Bender.
Details were sketchy but it seems he had broken both legs, one a compound fracture and had spent at least one night in the canyon before being found by the group of four, who had gone in search of him after hearing from a ranger that a canyoneer was overdue. canyoneer.

[MiCamp]

Kudos to them for going out of their way to help out and hoping for a speedy recovery for the injured canyoneer.

[Byron]

Gnarly!!! Compound fracture and had to spend the night? Talk about shock and trauma! Poor guy...but he must have felt like praising the God on high when those people walked up.

[rockgremlin]

Wonder how they extracted him with a compound fracture and two broken legs. I doubt the group of four went equipped with a flex stretcher and/or splints. Yikes.

[MiCamp]

As I said sketchy details. They said that they went looking for him when they learned he was missing. Apparently they found him sheltered in an alcove which was hiding him from view of the search helicopter. After locating him they signaled the helicopter. How he was extricated we didn't find out.

[Slot Machine]

Wonder how they extracted him with a compound fracture and two broken legs. I doubt the group of four went equipped with a flex stretcher and/or splints. Yikes.

I was with Micah and talked to the guy that found him. I believe he said one leg was broken in two places. One of the breaks was open, through the skin, and bleeding. He hopped/hobbled over to the exit and tried to climb it. When he couldn't, he then hopped/hobbled back to Mindbender and took shelter.

There was fresh blood on the wall when we arrived at the exit. A spot about the size of a silver dollar.

The victim was extracted with a helicoper, I'm pretty sure...

The group that found him intended to do Not Mindbender and found themselves in Mindbender. They were relived to find the victim's ropes fixed at the top of the final rappel.

(please forgive me if any of this is wrong, all secondhand information and I have a crappy memory)

If the 'rescue' group had done their intended canyon they likely would not have found him. The victim said he would not have survived the second night. It was quite cold this past weekend. It could have been a miserable fate. It's a freaking miracle he was discovered in time!

Like Micah said, HUGE credit to the group that saved this gentleman. Well done!

If anyone has any details as to how this man was injured, or how he is doing now, please consider sharing. I'm pretty sure all the Bogleyites would like to learn from his experience.

[Mountaineer]

The group that found him intended to do Not Mindbender and found themselves in Mindbender.

Amazing story, very fortunate they found him! Great job to all those involved.

Thanks for sharing Bob. Yes, would be interesting to hear what went wrong.

[ratagonia]

I was with Micah and talked to the guy that found him. I believe he said one leg was broken in two places. One of the breaks was open, through the skin, and bleeding. He hopped/hobbled over to the exit and tried to climb it. When he couldn't, he then hopped/hobbled back to Mindbender and took shelter.

Wow. It is quite a ways from the bottom of Mindbender to the Exit climb. Wow!

[Slot Machine]

Wow. It is quite a ways from the bottom of Mindbender to the Exit climb. Wow!

For sure! If the blood wasn't on the wall, I wouldn't have believed it myself. It must have been crushing to not make that climb.

[Taylor]

I second the "wow". Crazy couple of weekends in the Roost for sure.

[bawood]

I am the discussed canyoneer that injured myself in Mindbender last Wednesday. I sustained a Liz Frank fracture to my left foot and a deep wound to my right foot. I thought the right foot was a compound fracture, but it was thankfully not. By the end of the ordeal it was a stinking mess that I wrapped in a dry bag to keep flies off of. I ended up having surgery thursday evening, the evening of the rescue, to have it cleaned out to prevent sepsis. It's on the mend. I have surgery next Wednesday for the fracture.

I was originally headed to Arches that day, but because of the shutdown, detoured to Mindbender. Alone. My intention was to head to the first drop and make an intuitive decision whether or not to commit. I typically do not canyoneer alone, and am not sure the reasons for heading out solo that day. I go to the canyons for strictly spiritual reasons. Something took me to mindbender that morning and I still am trying to figure out exactly what. The biggest lesson I've learned from the incident is to slow down. The mistakes I made could easily have been prevented had I taken two extra minutes to reconsider my choices. Simple choices with profound consequences.

I should have turned around when I first entered Mindbender and realized I didn't even have the appropriate ropes for the final rappel. But instead, i went back to my car and retrieved the right lengths. Once I got into the canyon I was in a big hurry. I believe in forces of light and dark, both were present that morning. After the first drop, I remember looking back and wondering if I could ascend it. I thought I could, wrong, and kept going. There was a tremendous amount of mud in the canyon that day, and this would later be of great consequence.

When I arrived at the second drop, I thought I saw a way down to the right. The second drop is not a rappel and it is advised to partner assist down this drop. As i started downclimbing to the right, I realized this was not a good idea. My shoes were caked in mud and I was getting zero friction from them. Then I fell. Not a big fall, but big enough to sustain a broken left foot. I ascended the pour off and attempted to reverse my route back to the car. But I could not make the climb out. So I had to commit at this point.

The lesson at this point is obvious. If I had a partner I could have managed the obstacle much better with a hand line, a partner assist or whatever. The other is that I was in a hurry, and should have taken two extra minutes to assess the obstacle.

So I returned to the second small drop and was back to square one. I had to descend Mindbender with one good foot. This second drop is maybe 15 feet. I created a really bad anchor using P cord and a cordelette as a handline down. The anchor was a rock that I thought was securely wedged at the top of the pour off. I tested the anchor,and, believing it would hold, put my full weight on it. It did not hold. My first thought during the fall was the anchor itself that was following me into the pothole. Upon impact, which happened to be my left foot, I attempted to push myself out of the way of the falling rock. It did not work. The rock, I believe, caused the wound to my right foot. I'm not sure. At this point the pain was beyond description in my left foot and I finally understood that I may not make it out of this canyon.

I had no choice but to keep going. Earlier in the morning I had contacted my friend and tole her to call the Wayne County Sherriff if she had not heard from me in 24 hours. That was still 24 hours away. I painfully made my way down canyon and to the final rappel. My wound in my right foot was bleeding and I knew it was going to be an issue. But through adrenaline and the will to live I was able to stumble, crawl and hop to the final rappel. I decided to throw both rope ends down the final rappel. Much to my dismay, I was not sure that I had enough rope. I had brought along the p cord as an extension for the pull rope, but of course had used it for the faulty anchor above. I made it down, it was not enjoyable. At this point it is maybe 4 o clock and I still had two miles to the exit. I just kept going, crawling, hopping and stumbling my way to the Moki Step exit. In the back of my mind was the exit, because I understood that it included a 20ft climb. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage that obstacle, but I didn't stop to worry about too much. I finally made it to the step exit at 7.

My wound on the right foot by this time had become an unbelievable mess. Blood and mud made it look like a nightmare. At this point I realized I would have to spend the night; I simply could not put weight on my right foot any longer. I resigned to a night out and would attempt to ascend the step in the morning. I was blessed with a 54 degree night, and was able to shiver my way through. I had failed in my preparation that morning to bring a lighter.

The sun came up and I attempted to climb. It was a no go. I made it to the 5.4 climb, but was afraid to commit with no feet. If I fell again, what else could I break. I decided to wait for help. At 10:30 my friend called the Sherriff and reported me missing. The sun, often hidden by a cold front moving in, made its way across the sky. I had many conversations with my higher power throughout the day.

At 4 p.m. I decided I was going to prepare for another night out. I had been peeing in a gatorade bottle all day, in preparation for the inevitable. I was not confident I was going to make it through a cold night. My wound began to smell really bad, I was running very low on water and I did not have the appropriate gear for a cold bivy. Then I heard the sound of a helicopter.

I was near an alcove and they flew directly overhead. I was not sure if they had seen me or not, they hadn't. But at least they were looking for me. About 25 minutes after this I looked up and saw a man standing above the alcove. At this moment, I knew I was going to survive. The first question I asked was how far is the trailhead. I knew that they could retrieve gear to get me through the evening. There was some talk about getting me out, and there was some talk about flagging down the helicopter. They threw me water. I am forever grateful to this group.

Within 10 minutes the helicopter returned and I was in the air on my way to Moab. It was 30 hours after the accident had occurred. Like I said, I went to surgery that evening on my right foot and it looks like I will be able to keep it. Thank you to anyone who was there that day and helped me get out of Mindbender. This accident was easily preventable and will hopefully provide many lessons for other canyoneers. Slow down. Always carry an emergency bivy kit. -Brian Wood

[bawood]

And it should be noted that pack was in an irretrievable position when I fell the second time. This is why I had to create a totally bs anchor and handline; my gear was below me. I only had what was on my harness.

[Mountaineer]

I am the discussed canyoneer that injured myself in Mindbender last Wednesday.

-Brian Wood

Amazing story Brian!! Thanks for posting up your adventure. You've got guts and will to do this solo, but more importantly to keep a cool head and make it out. Glad it turned out OK in the end. I can't imagine the emotions that went through you (perhaps stronger than the physical challenges you faced).

Great job.

[Scott P]

Wow!

Glad you made it out alive.

Mud does increase the difficulty of the canyons. We were also in a canyon during that time period and the mud made it much more difficult than normal.

Wishing you a quick recovery!

[Slot Machine]

Wow... crazy story. Thank you for sharing.

The night after your rescue the temperature dropped to 30 degrees. It is quite fortuante that you were rescued before nightfall.

I hope your sugeries go well and all bones mend quickly.

Bob

[bawood]

[bawood]

[Absolute Gravity]

Holy ouch! You look like an extra on The Walking Dead!

[Eric Holden]

OH GOD! Warning next time. Your foot is messed up! Hefty price to pay for the learning experiences!

[mattandersao]

Holy ouch! You look like an extra on The Walking Dead!

Cant wait until Sunday to see more Zombies er canyoneers apparently!