Video: Hiker Breaks Ankle, Records Her Wait for Rescue on Camera
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.20.12
Sitting alone on the side of a mountain at night and trying to retain her sanity, Alexandra “Lexi” DeForest filmed herself and her broken ankle while waiting to be rescued. Since the video was posted to YouTube last Wednesday, it has received almost 200,000 views and lots of media attention for the brave girl who made light of her predicament.
The 21-year-old senior at Colorado State University went hiking with her friend, Erik Henry, in Wyoming, 90 minutes north of her university’s campus. When DeForest attempted to jump a large trench in rocky terrain, she failed and ended up with a detached ankle that left her immobile.
According to reports, she panicked when she first glanced at her foot. “I felt blood all over me, my knees and elbows were cut, and my plan immediately was to crawl down the mountain,” she told Fox News.
While her friend ran down the mountain for help, she waited and occupied her time by recording her stream of consciousness on camera. She laughs a little and jokingly chastises herself for breaking her ankle a second time.
“Come on Lexi,” she says in the video, “you would think you would be better at this by now, this walking thing.”
After some time and failed attempts to carry DeForest to camp, her friend goes down the mountain by himself to get help. DeForest is left alone and worries about bears and the impending cold night. “Yeah, the bone isn’t really attached. It’s truly something. So, I think this is the only way I can put it, but I am [expletive] scared. I am really scared.”
Almost seven minutes in to the video, Erik returns with their campsite director and the video stops. FoxNews reports that DeForest was air-lifted to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado and released Wednesday night. She’s back at university in time for the start of the semester, although she had to put a semester in Prague on hold because of the ordeal.
Watch the video in its entirety below.
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httpv://youtu.be/7pLXCYbwnGo
