Runner crawls 10 hours with a broken leg on icy Washington trail to reach rescue

A 26-year-old trail runner says he knew he was in “deep trouble” after breaking his leg slipping on ice Friday evening in the Olympic National Forest in Washington, KOMO reports.

“I knew right away that I hurt my ankle and then I sat down to examine it, and my foot kinda flopped to the side like it was untethered,” said Joe Oldendorf, according to the station.

He’d broken his tibia about three inches up from his ankle in the 5:45 p.m. fall, about 12 miles into a 20-mile run, KIRO reported. Oldendorf had a fully charged phone, but no cell service.

Oldendorf began crawling on all fours through snow and mud in the dark toward the trailhead, Jefferson Search and Rescuevolunteers wrote on Facebook.

It took him seven hours to reach a point where he could call 911, rescuers reported.

“I was just trying to keep my mind on moving,” Oldnedorf said, KOMO reported. “I knew deep down that that was my only option, so I didn’t really stop to entertain anything else. I just tried to stay warm and keep going.”

But Oldendorf’s painful journey wasn’t over after reaching 911 at 12:45 a.m. Saturday, rescuers wrote.

“I stopped to lay down and stay warm, thinking they might be there relatively soon, but I was way too cold and there was no way I could do it without moving, so I just decided to keep moving towards them.” Oldendorf said, KIRO reported.

He crawled nearly four hours more to meet volunteers making their way up the trail to him, rescuers say. In all, Oldendorf had crawled five or six miles before rescuers found him.

“I don’t want my family to hear I died in the wilderness,” Oldendorf said, KIRO reported. “I think it’d be unbearable.”

Rescuers and Brinnon Fire Department firefighters carried Oldendorf farther up the trail while the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for a helicopter airlift, rescuers wrote on Facebook.

Along with his leg injury, Oldendorf had spent the night in sub-freezing temperatures wearing only light running clothes and rescuers suspected hypothermia, the Facebook post says.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlifted Oldendorf to a Seattle hospital for treatment, Coast Guard officials wrote on Facebook.

“Carrying a charged cell phone and displaying incredible grit and determination to self rescue likely prevented more serious injury in this case,” Jefferson Search and Rescue wrote.

This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Runner crawls 10 hours with a broken leg on icy Washington trail to reach rescue."