Runner crawls for TEN HOURS in subfreezing temperatures to get help after breaking his leg in a Washington state park
- Joseph Oldendorf broke his leg about 12 miles into a run on a remote trail in the Olympic National Forest in Washington state on Friday at about 5pm
- Oldendorf, whose tibia became detached from his ankle, started crawling on his hands and knees because he had no phone signal to call for help
- He got phone signal again after crawling for about seven hours
- Oldendorf, who feared he would die if he remained still, continued crawling for several hours until rescuers located him at about 4.30am
- Temperatures in the park on Friday night reached lows of 26 degrees
A runner who broke his leg on a snowy trail in a Washington state park was forced to crawl for more than 10 hours in subfreezing temperatures before he was rescued.
Joseph Oldendorf slipped on ice and broke his leg about 12 miles into his 20 mile run on a remote trail in the Olympic National Forest on Friday at about 5pm.
Oldendorf, whose tibia became detached from his ankle, started crawling on his hands and knees back in the direction he came from after realizing he had no phone signal to call for help.
He crawled for about seven hours until his knees were past raw.
Joseph Oldendorf is recovering in hospital after he slipped on ice and broke his leg about 12 miles into his run on a remote trail in the Olympic National Forest in Washington state on Friday at about 5pm
It was then that he received a text message and realized he had phone signal again. He called 911 at about 12.30am.
Oldendorf, who was only wearing light running clothes and feared he would die if he remained still, continued crawling for several hours until rescuers managed to locate him at about 4.30am.
Temperatures in the park on Friday night reached lows of 26 degrees.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Seattle where he is recovering, Oldendorf told KIRO that the whole ordeal felt like a weird dream.
‘I wasn’t counting on my phone ever working. I just figured this is my only chance. I’m going to crawl all the way there,’ he said.
‘My ankle was in such shape that… I had to be facing chest down for it not to be flopping out of alignment.
‘So, I had to crawl on all fours, and my knees – it’s a rocky, snowy, dirty, wet trail – and after a while, my knees were just raw.
Oldendorf, whose tibia became detached from his ankle, started crawling on his hands and knees back in the direction he came from after realizing he had no phone signal to call for help
In total, Oldendorf crawled on his hands and knees for more than 10 hours until his knees were past raw and severely injured
‘So I had the idea put my shoes over them so I would at least have some traction and a little bit of protection but they’re still really messed up.’
He said he thought of his family the entire time he was crawling and that it helped push him through the pain.
‘I stopped to lay down and stay warm, thinking they might be there relatively soon, but I was way too cold. There was no way I could do it without moving,’ he said.
‘I don’t want my family to hear I died in the wilderness. I think it’d be unbearable.’
Rescuers found him along the trail and immediately started treating him for exposure to cold and a broken ankle.
They managed to located him by his voice about five to six miles from the spot where he was injured.
Oldendorfe was hoisted up into a rescue helicopter and rushed to hospital for further treatment.
Rescuers found him along the trail and immediately started treating him for exposure to cold and a broken ankle before airlifting him to a Seattle hospital
Oldendorfe was hoisted up into a rescue helicopter and rushed to hospital for further treatment. Pictured is a view from the rescue helicopter