The Eyewitness Report of Baggy's Accident

Here's what happened. Second Cuming, Family Jewels, Baggy Organ, and I, Bare Chambers, went out for a run/walk bike ride on Sunday morning January 6, 2002. Since Baggy and I each had a bad foot, we were going to bike/walk while Second and Jewels ran on the Toothpick trail. All started well with Baggy and I riding on the flat wide parts of the trail and walking on the steep or narrow parts. Soon Second and Jewels were out of sight and we were doing fine. We came to the place in the trail where there is a sharp hairpin bend about 1 mile from Toleman Creek Road. Since the trail narrows there we had dismounted and were walking with Baggy in front and me a bit behind him. He misstepped just enough to wobble and lose his balance. The trail is somewhat narrow at that point, and there is about a 4 - 5 foot drop into a narrow steep gully, and as I watched in horror, Baggy pitched head first over the edge of the trail. He landed on his head and shoulder, tumbled once then slid another 25 feet or so down the gully. I screamed, "Baggy," then, when I saw he'd stopped falling, "Don't move."

Fortunately there was another couple (Erik and Stacey Poole) on the trail just behind us. They didn't see him fall, but they heard me yell. While Stacey called 911 on the cell phone I decided at the last minute to bring with me that day, Erik and I went down the gully to Baggy. He was conscious, lying on his back head down on a steep slope with a log about 6 - 8 inch in diameter lengthwise under him and with a small tree at his shoulder. He said that he couldn't feel or move his legs so we knew that it was serious, but he was struggling to roll over, and was on too steep of a slope to remain in his current position until help could arrive. I got under his shoulders and held him up enough for Erik to pull the log out and cleared some of the area below us where it was nearly level. We then we pulled him by his clothes down slope to this level place. At first Erik held him, then I moved to a sitting position where I could hold his head in my lap and he could remain lying reasonably comfortably until help arrived. He remained conscious, and didn't go into shock, and said he wasn't in much pain.

Fortunately I was wearing gortex, so I could cover him with my jacket to keep him warm and dry. It didn't start to rain until we had him out. At the time I could see only one rather large gash on the left side of his head just into his hair, and another smaller cut on his forehead. The back of his head seemed to be bleeding also, but I couldn't tell for sure if that was just running back from the gash on the top of his head, or there was another wound. It later turned out that he needed about a dozen staples in a gash on the back of his head in addition to the stitches to close about a 4 inch cut on the top and a 2 inch cut on his forehead. He fell at about 11 AM, and by about 12:15 the sheriff had arrived and the rescue team was on it's way. While we were waiting Baggy still said he couldn't feel or move his legs, however, I was able to assure him that his legs did move from time to time even though he couldn't feel the movement. I hoped it was reassuring to him.

Second and Jewels came back down the trail about this time and discovered what had happened. They took the bicycles back to the truck at Toleman Creek Road, and came back to assist in the rescue. The rescue team arrived about 12:30. Luckily they had a been assembled with their equipment at Emigrant Lake to do a practice rescue when the call came in to them. They began setting up ropes for a pulley system to get Baggy out while the first team member rappelled down the side of the gully so as not to start any debris rolling onto us. When he reached us he did a preliminary evaluation and started an IV. When he ask if Baggy wanted anything for pain, Baggy declined and said he really wasn't in much pain. Since he was calm and stable the decision was to leave him lying as he was with his head in my lap until they had all the equipment in place to move him out of the gully. Once all the rope and people were set up, they brought a backboard and a basket down on which to haul and carry him out. Then they brought the board up so that as one man held his head I could move out from under him, and they could slip the board under his shoulders. His head was lowered onto the board, and we pulled him by his clothes by stages onto the board. At this point Baggy began experiencing considerably more pain. This was due primarily to the fact that the arthritis in his neck keeps him from being able to put his head down on a flat surface. Once the rescue team knew this they were able to prop his head up at a more comfortable angle. However, because of the wet conditions it was not easy to tape and strap things into place with an angle to his neck.

Once he was on the board, the board was then lifted into the basket, and he was padded and strapped in for the trip out of the gully. Three men hooked themselves to the basket at waist level, one on each side and one at the back, while the pulley ropes were hooded to the head of the basket. The process was then for the people on the trail including Second and Jewels to pull the ropes to haul the basket up while the men walked up keeping the basket steady and off the ground. The leader on the trail would then call, "Ready," release the brake on the ropes, and everyone would pull until they had raised Baggy about 10 feet. The brake would be reset, the ropes rearranged, and the process would be repeated. After 3 or 4 repeats they had him at the trail level, and could unhook the basket from the ropes so that he could be carried out.

A crew of about 8 including Jewels and Second carried the basket back to the ambulance at Toleman Creek Road. It took quite a while for the walk out since the trail is sometimes narrow or steep and required several stops for carriers to change position. It was about 2PM when he was loaded into the ambulance. He was taken to Providence Hospital, and that evening surgery to install a halo was done. The following are daily updates sent to his friends of his condition as he progresses.