Minnesota Snowmobile Adventure 08: The Survival Adventure

-22 degrees the first night

Good times change in an instant. The following PICTURES are GRAPHIC, so be WARNED!!!

ME

Day 1 of incident; Face against handlebar. 1.5 hours till search and rescue. 3 hours till hospital.

Day 2; 14 broken bones in face. Blew out eye socket, shattered nose, split the roof of mouth down the middle, broken jaw, cheekbone. Also broke my left wrist.

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Find out if the nose has to be straightened, Back to Adventuring end of April.

This adventure put me into the roll of patient, while Ski Patrol, I am on the other side of the rubber gloves, splints and 4x4 bandages. I remember when I heard that Search & Rescue was going to be at least 45 minutes, I wondered what we could do for that length of time. I know that a Dr. and nurse couple stopped to help. We were able to use a bunch of stuff in my first aid kit. Rubber gloves, a cravat to put over some of the bleeding, 4x4 bandages and a light weight sleeping bag liner over my head to keep me warm. It was about 20 degrees outside, I never went into shock and when search & rescue arrived, they put me on oxygen right away. It was a 5 or 6 mile ride in a rescue sled behind a snowmobile to an ambulance. I noticed the lack of real pain, some of it could have been the cold that helped stop the bleeding and the bodies survival mechanisms to withstand pain. Then a 35 mile ride to the hospital in the ambulance. Spent some time?... catscan, x-rays at hospital. Then waited for a chopper. They airlifted me to a larger hospital, 90 mile away. They were concerned with trauma in my face. 14 broken bones in my face.

My wife and sister arrived at the hospital at midnight. They seemed somewhat taken aback by my face, at this point I still could not see out of my right eye, it was puffed up and sealed closed with blood. They thought I might look worse... I got to sleep about 2:30AM. I was pretty plugged up during the night so they put me on oxygen for a few hours. I checked out of the hospital at noon, 24 hours after the incident. I had to show I could walk around the hospital floor and eat a yogurt. Wow! We hit the road and stopped at the first McDonalds and I got a vanilla shake.

6 days later and I'm optimistic about getting healed up good as new, I meet with my Dr. again in the morning , to see about this big ole nose.

THANKS to my Wife and Sister, it was great to see their faces at midnight when they arrived. I want to thank Cook County Search & Rescue, the people on the trail that stopped to help, the Dr. and nurse (I believe they were together). Everyone that is involved with Grand Marais ambulance & hospital. The Best Western of Grand Marais. The helicopter crew from Duluth that loaded and gave me a hell of a ride just above the waters of Lake Superior to the hospital in Duluth. For everyone who helped clean up my face in the Duluth hospital. And THANKS to my 3 Buddies that rode with me through the first night of -22 degree riding and helped get me out of the woods, it was great to see you dudes through my one good eye when you pulled up to me in the woods.

At least we had our beer and pizza at "Sven & Oles" Fri night!