Next time you go out on a nature trip for a hike or whatever, you might want to bring your most trusted companion. Because one man from Alaska could’ve lost his life to a 700lb boulder that pinned him down; the man would’ve drowned were it not for his wife, who helped him breathe for three full hours while they waited for rescuers.
The ordeal happened to 61-year-old Kell Morris and Jo Roop, who went hiking near a remote glacier somewhere south of Anchorage. The couple wanted to avoid big crowds, so on May 24, they went to a rocky, undeveloped trail behind a state prison near Godwin Glacier. Morris had already noticed some huge boulders along the way, with some he estimated weighing 1000lbs. Still, he went straight ahead into a perilous pass. Unfortunately, a 700lb boulder slid onto him, pinning him face-down into the cold water running from the glacier.
“I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me… Basically, an avalanche of boulders. When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome,” recalls Kell Morris, transcript courtesy of The Guardian.
His wife, Jo Roop, found him soon enough and initially tried to free her pinned husband from the boulder, but to no avail. So she had to call 911, some 300 yards (274 meters) away from the incident. When Jo Roop came back, she also held Morris’ head up for three hours so he wouldn’t drown from all the water.
Luckily for Morris, a tourism company overheard the 911 dispatch and offered their helicopter to transport the rescuers to the remote trail quickly. This helped shave off 45 minutes from the travel time, which was crucial since Kell Morris’ hypothermia was already setting in despite all the help from his wife. The rescuers arrived in the nick of time and used two big air bags and seven men to extract Morris from the boulder.
The luck never ends for this man
Morris then spent two nights at a local hospital and, for some reason, was basically unscathed and healthy– something that shocked even the rescuers. Despite his long streak of luck and courting death and getting away with it, Morris is adamant that he doesn’t want to test his fate further. Morris and Jo Roop have decided to stop trailblazing and, from now on, will stick to safer trails in Alaska, presumably away from boulders.
Plenty of things certainly could’ve gone wrong for Morris and Jo Roop, but their luck never ran out. Hence, many people online have suggested that Morris go for lottery tickets this time because you never know how much the universe will favor you. Of course, Much of Morris’ survival was due to Jo Roop’s quick thinking and responsiveness, so as it is, the man might have gotten lucky as early as the start of the marriage.
“61, resilient, and a great wife. This guy’s living!” says KnowledgeJunkie7
“This is an incredible story. I encourage everyone to read the article. We should all be so lucky as to have a spouse (or friend) like his wife. What an incredible woman. 3 hours in cold water holding her husband’s head so he can breathe. Had to wipe my eyes there for a moment,” according to Icelandicstorm
“dude needs to go buy some lottery tix,” keyjan
“Im pretty sure my wife would hold my head out of the icy water to prevent me from dying but I think she’d mull it over for a couple seconds first..,” optimaloutcome
“Definitely luckiest man alive. I always have this fear when I’m out hiking and fishing alone that I’ll get pinned in the water by a boulder somehow,” fears DrDreadPirate
