![]() ![]() She tried to pry his leg out with a stick, but realized that effort would not work. The trouble for Osmun and McNeill began about four hours into the couple’s hike on a popular route called “The Subway” in the southern Utah park. “When water cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that cannot support weight and creates suction,” Baltrus said. Osmun had stepped into a small hole filled with it, Baltrus said. Quicksand can form in saturated loose sand and standing water - the combination found on the river bed trail Osmun and McNeill were hiking, said Aly Baltrus, Zion National Park spokeswoman. man survives heart attack thanks to Facebook “And then toward the end I thought I wasn’t going to make it.” “I thought for sure I would lose my leg,” Osmun said. Ryan Osmun, 34, of Mesa, Arizona, told NBC’s “Today” show that he hallucinated at one point while waiting several hours alone after his girlfriend Jessika McNeill left him last Saturday to get help. “It’s just so tragic.A man who was stranded for hours in frigid weather with his leg sunk up to the knee in quicksand at a creek in Utah’s Zion National Park said Tuesday that he feared he would lose his leg and might die because the quicksand’s water was so cold. ![]() ”When I started on the department I was with people who had been on that other tragic mud rescue 30-plus years ago, so this just hit home with all the stories they’ve always told us of how it felt holding that person,” she said. The effort to extract Porter before the tide rose was eerily reminiscent of that ill-fated rescue call in the late 1980s, Weston said. The last three mud flat calls the fire department has received involved people already buried up to their chests, which doesn’t afford rescuers a lot of time, she said. Time is crucial when the tide is rising and it can take rescuers a considerable amount of time to drive to locations along the Turnagain Arm. It’s essential to call 911 early, Weston said. Mud rescues require a significant amount of manpower, she said, because there needs to be enough people to rescue any crew members who may sink into the mud while trying to free the trapped person.Įarlier this month, rescuers saved a hooligan fisherman after he sank up to his waist in mud near the mouth of Twentymile River. They use a specialized tool that blasts high pressure water or air into the mud to break it up so rescuers can free the trapped person. The Girdwood Fire Department generally responds to two or three mud rescues each year, Weston said. A man died in 2013 when Cook Inlet tides quickly rose as he walked back to Kincaid Park in Anchorage from Fire Island. The mud can be unpredictable and safe spots for standing can change. Weston described the shoreline and tides around Anchorage as unforgiving: mud-like quicksand can trap people along the shores of Cook Inlet or Turnagain and Knik arms. In 1988, 18-year-old Adeana Dickison became stuck in the mud near Ingram Creek and died. It has been more than 30 years since someone died after becoming stuck in the mud flats. Porter’s body was recovered around 6 a.m. The fire department is located roughly 47 miles from the area where Porter became stuck and Weston said it can take up to an hour to drive there.Īnother person with Porter, who did not require extrication from the mud, was medevaced to a hospital, according to Weston. Girdwood rescue crews made it to the scene after Porter was already underwater, Weston wrote. Porter’s friends tried to free him from the mud, as did crews when they arrived, but despite their efforts the incoming tide submerged him just before 6:45 p.m., troopers said. Four units from the Girdwood Fire Department responded to Mile 11.5 along with two air ambulances to assist Hope Sunrise Fire Department crews, according to Weston. Porter was already waist deep in the mud when the first rescue crews arrived, McDaniel said. He was between 50 to 100 feet from shore, said Girdwood Fire Chief Michelle Weston. One of his friends called 911 immediately after Porter became stuck, McDaniel said. Zachary Porter was walking with a group of friends when he became stuck just before 6 p.m., troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said in an email. (Bob Hallinen / ADN archive)Īuthorities say a 20-year-old Illinois man died Sunday evening after rescuers were unable to free him from the Turnagain Arm mud flats near Hope and he drowned as the tide rose. ![]()
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