Hi All,
I normally would never ever allow any messages here about donations. IN this
case though, this situation very much warrants this.
One of our listers and a dear friend of mine, has had an extreme tragedy
with a loved one and I am officially asking for donations on his behalf.
Even a single dollar will be greatly appreciated here.
Now, before anyone objects to this, there is a time and a place to allow a
note like this. This is that time and place. This is simply the right thing
to do, and I know that when you read the below account, you will agree with
me.
If anyone takes issue with this then I urge you to write me privately and
furthermore I extend my deepest apologies for wasting your time.
For those who would like to donate, there is a PayPal button on the
following page.
http://www.markburninghawk.net/music.html
You may read this story at Mark's FaceBook page and I've also pasted it
below.
Again for those for whom this is an issue, remember, your delete key works
just fine in this instance. :) thanks for obliging me.
FaceBook link and story are below this note.
Thanks to all of you for being here and making these lists what they are.
I wish you and yours all a wonderful weekend and thank you very much for
whatever donations you can share.
Take care of each other. :)
Sincerely,
Cara quinn
Mark Baxter FaceBook
https://www.facebook.com/markburninghawk.baxter
The Story
Last Saturday afternoon, taking advantage of the beautiful weather before
the rainy winter arrived, Amy and I decided to go for a short hike. We
drove to the Damnation Creek trail head on HWY 101, near Klamath, CA, and
intended to be back at our car within a couple of hours, as it was already
late afternoon, and would get dark soon.
Ezra was guiding me as usual, and Luke was shepherding us all as usual, and
we were both enjoying the rugged landscape and giant redwood trees. Softly
scented air was dappled with sun and shade as the trail first descended,
then wound up to a narrow wooden bridge, at a fork with the Coastal Loop
trail.
We decided to venture a ways down the Coastal Loop trail, hoping it would
"loop," back to the footbridge. No such luck.
At first, the trail, mostly composed of an old highway and well maintained,
was great for hiking, so we continued. By the time it got narrow and steep
again, and Amy could see the ocean through the trees ahead, we needed to
turn back; it was getting dark.
We tiredly turned and made our way back down the trail, until we were mostly
back to the footbridge. We stopped to catch our breaths and let the dogs
pee, and somehow, Amy fell. I heard her fall, cry out, then a crash, then
nothing. I called out, "AMY! Amy, can you answer me?" I heard nothing for
a few minutes.
When I heard a sound, I didn't think it was a human making it. It was Amy
screaming.
I had to get down the cliff she had fallen over, to ascertain her condition.
I somewhat climbed, mostly fell down to where she was. She had landed
badly, on her back, on the rocks at the bottom of an old creek bed. Luke
was with her, and Ezra followed me down.
Her screams of pain were constant, long and loud. She kept saying, "NO! NO!
NO!" over and over, and told me, "I can't feel my legs!" I sat for a while,
held her hand, listened to her scream. I knew I had to somehow get help.
I had my iPhone 5 with me, but when I checked, I had no service. There was
no way I could move Amy; she was far too badly injured to climb up the
cliff. I had to climb up the cliff, helping Ezra up with me, and find a
place where I had enough cell service to call 911 and get a rescue team in
to get Amy.
So, as she screamed, I tucked my maroon sweatshirt carefully under her head,
and said, "Baby, I love you; I will be back with help, I have to go get
help." She just kept on screaming.
I found a chimney up the cliff, hauled Ezra up and got back to the trail,
which was fortunately very well-defined. I still had no service.
I had no choice but to walk with Ezra guiding me down the trail until I
could call 911. Fortunately, Ezra was able to follow the trail, even in the
dark. Luke also had come up with us, and stuck close to us.
We walked about a quarter mile until I got one bar of cell coverage. With
that one bar, having to call back ten or twelve times, I got 911 to contact
the sheriff, who sent in the volunteer search and rescue team to find us.
There was some consternation when I told the sheriff that I couldn't give
visual landmarks. I explained that I was blind, had been hiking with my
sighted girlfriend, and she had fallen. I gave them the names of the
trails, but, No, I did not think I could get back to my vehicle, and no I
couldn't describe where I was. I told them about the bridge at the trail
fork. Then my iPhone battery got dangerously low. They had my GPS
coordinates by that time, so I settled down to wait, calling out from time
to time, in case they could hear me.
That didn't stop the SAR people from hitting the trail, so I was told. I
was growing cold now, shivering in just sweats and a T-shirt. I had given
Amy my sweatshirt.
I walked with Luke and Ezra back to the footbridge. The creek under it
whispered, defining the silence of the woods at night. Luke alternately
huddled against me and padded back and forth over the bridge. Ezra sat
close, being calm and patient. I had done all I could do.
I began intermittently shouting, "HELLO! HELLO!" Finally, about four hours
later, my voice hoarse from dehydrating, shivering from cold, I heard a very
faint, "HELLO! Are you Mark!?" Oh yes, I was Mark all right.
A few minutes later, a woman named Renelle ran up to me on the bridge,
followed by her partner Mel. Luke led them to where Amy had fallen, and
they found her. I got under a space blanket and drank water.
It wasn't over. Amy couldn't move, and they had to get more people with a
back board and stretcher to get her up the cliff, and then we all had about
three miles of hiking out to do. Luke stayed with Amy and the rest of the
team, while Mel, Ezra and I started the long hike back to the highway.
As we hiked along--by now it was about three thirty in the morning, pitch
dark save for Mel's flashlight--he soon discovered that Ezra and I could
navigate our way ahead better than he could try and guide me. As we walked,
we talked about Ezra, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the school that trained
him, about dogs in general. Mostly he was just trying to take my mind off
what had just happened.
I realized that Ezra and Luke were the real heroes of this night. Tired and
limping, Ezra nevertheless led me where I needed to go, avoiding obstacles
in the dark and finding sure footing. Luke led the rescue team to Amy, and
kept me safe while I waited for them. I have not yet stop sending my
gratitude to Dog for walking with me, for saving our lives.
The last 0.7 miles was all up-hill, switchbacks and rock steps. As beat-up
and tired as I was, I cannot imagine what it was like for Amy to be
stretcher-borne out of there. I saw her briefly at the ambulance; she was
in shock, but she said, "Thank you, you did the best thing you could…"
I got a ride home from a park ranger. I had Amy's car towed home. By then
it was 4:45 in the morning. I put the dogs to bed and just sat there for
the next hour giving my thanks.
Luke came home with me and is subdued, confused and sad.
Amy was taken to Sutter General Hospital in Crescent City. There, she was
determined to have a broken thoracic spine, three broken ribs and a
collapsed lung. As of now, she is either en route to or in surgery at OHS
in Portland. No one will tell me anything.
The dogs and I are still recovering. I'm sore all over, Ezra is sore and
tired and Luke is being perfectly behaved for me while he waits for Amy to
return.
It's far from over, but this is an update. I am anxiously waiting for news
of Amy. I frankly have no idea what comes next.
---
View my Online Portfolio at:
http://www.onemodelplace.com/CaraQuinn
Follow me on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/ModelCara
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