I thought that I was over this, and really didn't want to share this story, but I am really starting to wonder if I did enough, and if there is anything else I should have done.. In case there is a "next time"
The Story:
My wife and I just took a 17 day trip to Europe. While in Germany we were visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle (outside of Fussen) we decided to go to Marry's Bridge which overlooks a gorge and gives you a great view of the castles. Past the bridge was a very steep and semi-treacherous trail going up one of the Bavarian Alp mountains. It was a small trail that switched-back up the mountain.
About 45 min to an hour up the mountain a man came running down telling us there had been an accident, and that an old woman had fallen. He told us there was nothing more to see up there and that he was going to run down to get the police. I asked where the woman was and told him that we would wait with her until the police came. We told us the general direction and we headed that way. Finally about hiking about another 30 minutes I got a reply to my "He--ll--o's" by a man who appeared in his 60-70's. He was off the trail down the mountain about 400 feet. I yelled to him asking if he needed help, and all he would do was point and wave a back-pack.
This mountain was no joke, it was just so steep that I felt a little uneasy about going down on my butt, but not knowing the situation I told my wife not to move, and that I was going to go down there and help. So I started down the side on my butt, going as slow as I could to make sure that I didn't fall and create more havok, and finally I got pretty close to the old man. I asked him if he was hurt, and he didn't respond he just kept moving away from me, I asked him where his wife was and he pointed to the right, and kept going that way. Finally I turned a small bend and a saw his wife. I was probably 50 feet from here but I knew that she was probably dead.
As he got closer to his wife he slipped and fell rolling down the mountain and rolled over her, he was able to stop himself from going any further with a death grip in the ground. I hurried as fast as I could to get to him, and helped him into a stable sitting position. Then I looked at her.
She was face down, head pointing to the top of the mountain turned to her right side. Her entire face was bloody and her skin was very blue. I went over to her and moved debris from around her mouth and nose, and then tried to get her pulse from her wrist. She was very cold and blue, and I could not find any pulse. Since she was on her stomach I was not sure if I should move her, due to any head/neck injuries. (however now I realize that if she had already died it didn't matter)
At this point I looked at the old man and he was now attempting to get a pulse. He did not speak any english but got the point across that he had a cell phone in his back-pack. After digging through it I found it and it had a keylock. I asked him if he knew the combination and he responded that she did. I tried dialing 911 and then 112 and it would give me some error recording that I was not sure what it said. (In German). I marked the lady's position on my GPS and attempted to climb my way back to my wife, however it was too steep to climb, so I told the old man to do not move and that I would be back.
I started down the mountain to see if I could find a trail, so that I could give their location to rescue team, right as I left them the fog rolled in (It was rainy and very foggy all day) I couldn't see much more than 10 feet in front of me. After about 20 minutes of descending I realized I should have never left the man & wife, as I am now lost. I sat for a second contimplating my decsion to leave him, and then why I even went down there to begin with. Finally I decided it wasn't doing me any good sitting there thinking about it, and my best bet was to continue on to the bottom, and then find my way back. About 20 feet from where I thought I was lost, was a small antelope (or whatever) trail that I took that lead me back to the main trail. I have never been so thankful in my life. I ran up the mountain to my wife (about 40 mins) and told her what I had witnessed.
I know this is getting long, but it is almost over. We started down the mountain again to be met by 2 plain-clothed police men, who we took back to the location of where the woman had fallen, and then about 30 mins later the rescue team arrived. We were hustled down the mountain and had to fill out a report, and never told of the outcome of the event.
Sorry for the long post, I need to get this off my chest. What else should I have done to help this woman? I need to know if there was something I could have done.
The Story:
My wife and I just took a 17 day trip to Europe. While in Germany we were visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle (outside of Fussen) we decided to go to Marry's Bridge which overlooks a gorge and gives you a great view of the castles. Past the bridge was a very steep and semi-treacherous trail going up one of the Bavarian Alp mountains. It was a small trail that switched-back up the mountain.
About 45 min to an hour up the mountain a man came running down telling us there had been an accident, and that an old woman had fallen. He told us there was nothing more to see up there and that he was going to run down to get the police. I asked where the woman was and told him that we would wait with her until the police came. We told us the general direction and we headed that way. Finally about hiking about another 30 minutes I got a reply to my "He--ll--o's" by a man who appeared in his 60-70's. He was off the trail down the mountain about 400 feet. I yelled to him asking if he needed help, and all he would do was point and wave a back-pack.
This mountain was no joke, it was just so steep that I felt a little uneasy about going down on my butt, but not knowing the situation I told my wife not to move, and that I was going to go down there and help. So I started down the side on my butt, going as slow as I could to make sure that I didn't fall and create more havok, and finally I got pretty close to the old man. I asked him if he was hurt, and he didn't respond he just kept moving away from me, I asked him where his wife was and he pointed to the right, and kept going that way. Finally I turned a small bend and a saw his wife. I was probably 50 feet from here but I knew that she was probably dead.
As he got closer to his wife he slipped and fell rolling down the mountain and rolled over her, he was able to stop himself from going any further with a death grip in the ground. I hurried as fast as I could to get to him, and helped him into a stable sitting position. Then I looked at her.
She was face down, head pointing to the top of the mountain turned to her right side. Her entire face was bloody and her skin was very blue. I went over to her and moved debris from around her mouth and nose, and then tried to get her pulse from her wrist. She was very cold and blue, and I could not find any pulse. Since she was on her stomach I was not sure if I should move her, due to any head/neck injuries. (however now I realize that if she had already died it didn't matter)
At this point I looked at the old man and he was now attempting to get a pulse. He did not speak any english but got the point across that he had a cell phone in his back-pack. After digging through it I found it and it had a keylock. I asked him if he knew the combination and he responded that she did. I tried dialing 911 and then 112 and it would give me some error recording that I was not sure what it said. (In German). I marked the lady's position on my GPS and attempted to climb my way back to my wife, however it was too steep to climb, so I told the old man to do not move and that I would be back.
I started down the mountain to see if I could find a trail, so that I could give their location to rescue team, right as I left them the fog rolled in (It was rainy and very foggy all day) I couldn't see much more than 10 feet in front of me. After about 20 minutes of descending I realized I should have never left the man & wife, as I am now lost. I sat for a second contimplating my decsion to leave him, and then why I even went down there to begin with. Finally I decided it wasn't doing me any good sitting there thinking about it, and my best bet was to continue on to the bottom, and then find my way back. About 20 feet from where I thought I was lost, was a small antelope (or whatever) trail that I took that lead me back to the main trail. I have never been so thankful in my life. I ran up the mountain to my wife (about 40 mins) and told her what I had witnessed.
I know this is getting long, but it is almost over. We started down the mountain again to be met by 2 plain-clothed police men, who we took back to the location of where the woman had fallen, and then about 30 mins later the rescue team arrived. We were hustled down the mountain and had to fill out a report, and never told of the outcome of the event.
Sorry for the long post, I need to get this off my chest. What else should I have done to help this woman? I need to know if there was something I could have done.