Alaska hiker cheats death pinned under 300kg boulder in icy creek thanks to wife and luck

South China Morning Post

30-05-2025

An Alaska man who was pinned facedown in an icy creek by a 300kg boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife's quick thinking and lots of luck.
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Kell Morris' wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage.
His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles.
Once rescuers arrived, it took seven men and inflatable airbags to lift the boulder off as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Kell Morris, upper right in a brown hat, trapped under a boulder. Photo: Jason Harrington/Seward Fire Department via AP
Morris, 61, said he realises he was probably the luckiest man alive. 'And luckier that I have such a great wife,' he said Thursday.