An Alaska antheral who was pinned facedown successful an icy creek by a 700-pound boulder for 3 hours survived the ordeal with lone insignificant injuries, acknowledgment successful portion to his wife's speedy reasoning and tons of luck.
Kell Morris' woman held his caput supra h2o to forestall him from drowning portion waiting for rescuers to get aft Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike adjacent a distant glacier southbound of Anchorage.
His 2nd changeable of luck came erstwhile a sled canine tourism institution that operates connected the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its chopper to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles.
Once rescuers arrived, it took 7 men and inflatable airbags to assistance the boulder disconnected arsenic helium drifted successful and retired of consciousness.
This May 24, 2025, photograph shows Kell Morris, precocious close successful a brownish hat, trapped nether a 700-pound stone adjacent Seward, Alaska.
Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department via AP
Morris, 61, said helium realizes helium is astir apt the luckiest antheral alive. "And luckier that I person specified a large wife," helium said Thursday.
His wife, Jo Roop, is simply a retired Alaska State Trooper. They moved to Seward, astir 120 miles southbound of Anchorage, from Idaho past autumn erstwhile she took a occupation with the section constabulary department.
On Saturday, they wanted to debar the large crowds that converge connected the Kenai Peninsula assemblage during holidays and decided to hike adjacent Godwin Glacier connected an isolated and undeveloped way down a authorities prison, Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites said.
Their way was really a rocky creek furniture lined with ample boulders deposited by the glacier.
Morris said helium noticed unsafe boulders, immoderate weighing up to 1,000 pounds, on the banks of the creek and avoided them the champion helium could, until helium ran into an country helium couldn't pass.
"I was coming backmost and everything, the full broadside slid retired from nether me," helium said.
He said things became a blur arsenic helium tumbled down the embankment astir 20 feet, landing look down successful the water.
Then helium instantly felt the boulder deed his backmost successful what Crites described arsenic "basically an avalanche of boulders."
The mode Morris landed, determination were rocks nether him, successful betwixt his legs and astir him that caught the value of the boulder, preventing him from being crushed, Crites said. But the monolithic stone inactive had him pinned, and Morris felt aggravated symptom successful his near limb and waited for his femur to snap.
"When it archetypal happened, I was doubtful that determination was going to beryllium a bully outcome," Morris said.
This May 24, 2025, photograph shows the creek adjacent Seward, Alaska, wherever Kell Morris was trapped nether a 700-pound rock.
Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department via AP
His woman tried to escaped him for astir 30 minutes, putting rocks nether the boulder and trying to rotation it disconnected him, earlier she near to find a compartment signal.
Amazingly, she lone had to locomotion astir 300 yards to link with 911 and relied connected her instrumentality enforcement acquisition to nonstop nonstop GPS coordinates to dispatch.
A unpaid astatine the neighboring Bear Creek Fire Department heard the telephone portion moving astatine the sled canine tourism cognition and diverted the chopper utilized to ferry tourists to the scene. Ultimately, firefighters who couldn't navigate their all-terrain vehicles implicit the boulder tract jumped retired of the helicopter.
"The diligent was successful a boulder tract and the chopper could lone hover portion firefighters had to leap from the chopper to the crushed arsenic the chopper could not onshore safely," the Seward Fire Department said successful a connection posted to Facebook.
By this time, Morris was hypothermic from the acold h2o moving disconnected the glacier, Crites said, and his woman was holding his caput retired of the water.
"I deliberation if we hadn't had that backstage chopper assistance us, it would person taken america astatine slightest different 45 minutes to get to him, and I'm not definite helium had that overmuch time," Crites said.
The Bear Creek Fire Department said it assisted the Seward Fire Department. "After dispatch 1 of our volunteers who was moving with Seward Helicopter Tours contacted america and offered assistance by helicopter," the Bear Creek Fire Department wrote connected Facebook. "The aviator of the chopper instantly jumped into enactment and helped haul cogwheel and rescuers up to the diligent aiding successful speedy effect to the patient."
The firefighters utilized 2 airbags usually reserved to extract radical from wrecked vehicles to somewhat assistance the boulder.
"But past it conscionable became an all-hands brute unit of 'one, two, three, push,'" Crites said. "And 7 guys were capable to assistance it capable to propulsion the unfortunate out."
An Alaska National Guard chopper lifted them retired of the creek furniture with a rescue basket.
Morris spent 2 nights astatine the section infirmary for reflection but walked distant unscathed.
"I afloat anticipated a assemblage recovery, not him walking distant without a scratch connected him," Crites said.
Morris, who is present reflecting connected his ordeal astatine home, acknowledged it mightiness person been a small wake-up telephone to halt doing things similar this astatine his age.
"I was precise lucky. God was looking retired for me," helium said.
When helium and his woman spell hiking this weekend, they are going to instrumentality to established trails.
"We're going to halt the trailblazing," helium said.
"We are grateful we could enactment our archetypal responders and assistance idiosyncratic successful need. So gladsome this communicative had a affirmative ending," Seward Helicopter Tours wrote connected Facebook.
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