One slip on a patch of ice, changed everything for one Colorado woman. She was left holding her broken body together with one hand, desperately trying to save herself. Her recent trek through the San Gabriel mountains should have been an easy trip for seasoned hiker Ruth Woroniecki.
The 40-year-old had hiked dozens of times before, and this quick trip for Christmas Eve with her family was just about done, when she hit a patch of ice on Cucamonga Peak. Though she told reporters that she doesn’t remember falling, her slip sent her plummeting more than 200 feet down to the ground below the mountain’s top.
The San Bernardino Police Dept. released a news report saying that Woroniecki had ended up with a broken neck, cuts on her face and a bad head injury, as well. Woroniecki told reporters that when she woke up after falling, there were tons of people that gathered around her to help. A stranger sent her GPS location to rescuers, while others tried to keep her warm and calm while waiting for help.
Hiker Ruth Woroniecki talks about her recent injury from a mountain. Photo from YouTube.
When the rescuers finally located Woroniecki, they knew the only way to save her was to bring in a helicopter to get her to a hospital. With high wind in the area, that would prove too difficult for the helicopter. So Woroniecki had to do what should have been impossible: hike 150 feet out with a broken neck to where the helicopter could land.
Which meant keeping her broken neck from getting more damaged, as well as staying in place. So Woroniecki held it with her hands to keep it stabilized and hiked her way to safety. A rescuer on the ground guided her to the location, and got her in a harness which would let her be pulled into the helicopter. She was then flown to a nearby hospital. .
Still recovering, Woroniecki told reporters that she is grateful to be back on her feet. But it was her faith, she said, that helped get her through this traumatic experience.
That’s what I was saying about prayer,” Woroniecki said. She said she kept thinking, “Jesus, now, help me. Be with me.”
“And he brought me that sense of hope and comfort,” she said, “and he got me through.” Chris Mejia of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department told reporters that the odds of Woroniecki surviving the fall were slim. “For her to be alive,” he said, “that’s a miracle.”
Sources: People | Independent
