Who: Toni Sneva
Where: Riverside State Park, Spokane Washington
Her mistake: She went hiking alone
What happened: A woman went on a day hike through Riverside State Park in Washington. The woman has hiked the trail many times before and was wearing light clothes and told family where she was going.
When the woman was two miles away from the trailhead, she somehow injured her ankle. She attempted to get back, but her ankle was in bad shape. She was unable to negotiate the icy terrain and switchbacks in between her and the car.
Family members became worried when the hiker didn’t show up to a hockey game. They notified local authorities that she is overdue and possible in the wilderness. Family members located her car, and search and rescue assembled 30 volunteers, 2 dogs, 5 ATV teams and a chopper for the search.
Immediate search attempts ran dry. Meanwhile the woman became cold and hunkered near a tree to protect her from the bitter wind. A chopper passed above her and the woman frantically waved a bag and her opened cell phone in hopes she would be spotted. The chopper left and didn’t return.
She decided to hunker down near the tree and threw her bag and an empty juice container on the nearby trail. The next morning, an ATV team on the trail spotted the juice container and began combing the area. The woman heard them, but was too weak to scream. She was very cold and hypothermic.
Eventually, the ATV team found the woman. They gave her some clothes and was transported to a waiting ambulance at the trailhead. She made a full recovery within 24 hours.
Read the story here.
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