ASHFORD, Washington — A 79-year-old woman who broke her ankle while hiking was rescued when a soldier also on a hike found her and carried her on his back for about three hours.
A news release from the U.S. Air Force says Ursula Bannister was hiking alone on Aug. 28 to High Rock Lookout near Ashford, Washington. Bannister was hiking to the spot where the ashes of her mother had been scattered.
“I know the trail very well and there are always many people there,” Bannister says. “When I couldn’t find anyone to accompany me on this outing, I just went by myself.”
During her descent, she stepped into a shallow hole, the release says. The misstep caused her to break her ankle in three places.
“By the time I sat up, my foot was pointing the wrong way. I knew right away I had broken my leg,” she tells The Washington Post. “I tried to get up with my hiking pole and it collapsed on me.”
Bannister cried out for help and several other hikers came to her assistance, giving her medical aid and calling for emergency help. According to People, rescuers were not expected to reach May for about five hours.
“It wasn’t very encouraging,” Bannister tells The Post. “I asked this man to please ask anybody if they had pain killers, because at that point, the pain was pretty substantial.”
That wait was too long for U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May and his friend, Layton Allen, who responded to help. So May put Bannister on his back and began to carry her down the trail, helped by Allen and some other hikers.
“My first thought was if I could carry her down, I should carry her down and get her there as quickly as I can,” May said.
The 1.6 mile journey down the trail was tough on Bannister because of the pain in her leg. May was able to carry Bannister most of the way, with Allen relieving him toward the end.
“She was definitely in a lot of pain,” May said. “I told her just a few more steps and we’d get her there.”
The Post reports that May and Allen had Bannister tell them stories of her life in order to get her mind off of her pain. She reportedly told them of her childhood in Germany and how she moved to the United States in 1959.
“She had a bunch of cool stories,” May tells The Post. “We were trying to keep her talking to make the hike go faster … we really had quite the team.”
After reaching the end of the trail, May and Allen put Bannister in their vehicle, elevated her leg and drove her about two hours to a hospital in Tacoma, Washington, the Post reports.
“I truly felt that these two guys were meant to be there to save me and that sort of swam in my subconscious at the time,” Bannister says. “I considered them my angels.”
Bannister is recovering after undergoing surgery, with 10 screws put in her leg. Meanwhile, May received an achievement medal for his actions on Sept. 9.
“One of the Air Force’s core values is service before self, and Airman 1st Class May clearly exemplified that core value with his actions,” Lt. Col. Joshua Clifford, 62d AMXS commander, said in a statement.
