3 days ago
Man experiences his own 127 Hours horror as he's pinned by 700lb boulder in Alaska water-filled canyon
An Alaska man was in for a thriller movie of his own when he found himself trapped under a 700-pound boulder during what was meant to be a peaceful canyon hike with his wife.
On May 24, Kell Morris and Joanna Roop decided to avoid the crowded trails that Memorial Day weekend often brings and make their way to a secluded hike 120 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska.
Little did they know that the decision would find them in their own version of the movie '127 Hours,' which follows a climber who was trapped for five days when a boulder crushed his arm. Played by James Franco, he finally chose to amputate his own limb rather than continue to wait for rescue and die in the process.
The story, which is based on the experiences of real-life Aron Ralston, serves as a cautionary tale for outdoorsmen like Morris.
Fortunately for Morris, no amputation was required for his dramatic three-hour rescue.
The couple started their hike in a creek next to Godwin Glacier in Seward - and the icy path was lined with boulders.
But since they'd hiked the path before, Morris and Roop weren't expecting any of those boulders to come tumbling down on them. As they walked, they avoided the rocks as best they could, but eventually came to a rocky area they could not pass.
Before he knew it, the entire side of the creek slid out from under him and according to 'an avalanche of boulders' came tumbling down behind him.
He felt one hit his back and next thing he knew, Morris, 61, was facedown on the ground completely unable to move.
His wife, a 61-year-old former police officer, attempted to rescue him herself. But after half an hour she left to find cell service and call for help.
Morris told Daily Mail he was unsure they'd be able to get any help at all because of how remote the location was.
The hiker also couldn't be reached by all-terrain vehicles, leaving emergency services to look for other solutions.
In a stroke of luck, a firefighter at Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department overheard the 911 dispatch, according to The New York Times.
He happened to work for Seward Helicopter Tours and offered up one of their choppers to usher first responders to the scene of the incident.
While they waited, the freezing water from the creek surrounding Morris continued to rise, thanks to pressure from the boulder and the melting glaciers. In a heroic move, Roop held her husband's head above water to keep him from drowning.
Finally, 45 minutes later, firefighters from Bear Creek and the Seward Fire Department got to work.
But, the process of moving a 700-pound boulder is easier said than done. It took seven men three hours to rescue Morris.
At first, he said, 'everything was about assessing how bad it was.' Since Morris was stable, his wife and the firefighters took their time figuring out how best to approach the removal.
The whole time, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Neither he nor his wife were sure he would make it out. Even Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites wasn't confident.
'I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him,' Crites said.
Miraculously, other rocks beneath the boulder held a lot of its weight off of Morris. As the giant rock held him down, Morris said he felt sharp tension in his leg and expected to walk away with a broken femur at the very least.
But thanks to the quick thinking of his wife and the local fire departments, he left with some just some bruising and what he thinks is a touch of frostbite.
In fact he went back to work just three days later, and said he would've gone sooner had his wife let him.
The worst consequences is people condemning for going out on the undefined trail in the first place. But Morris says he's an avid adventurer and nothing of this kind has ever happened before. He doubts it will happen again.
'I've done a lot of adventurous stuff in my life,' he told Daily Mail.
'I'm not the one taking care of myself. God takes care of me.'
The movie-worthy incident hasn't deterred Morris from hiking, either. He and his wife went out again the following weekend.
He credits his rescue to the volunteers who made the trek to the remote trail to help him. 'I would like them to be better appreciated. And for people to volunteer in their community,' he told Daily Mail.
