KEY POINTS

  • Oldendorf, 26,  was trail runner
  • He was 10 miles from the trail head
  • He snapped his tibia and skinned his hands and knees
  • He crawled for 8 hours to find cell reception
  • He was finally rescued at 4 AM

A Washington trail runner broke his ankle and shredded his skin after crawling for eight hours to get cell service to call for help on Friday.

Joseph Olendorf, 26, was in Duckabush Trail in Olympic National Park in northwest Washington State and was 10 miles from the trailhead when he snapped his ankle around 5 PM and described in KIRO-TV how he slipped on ice and snapped his tibia, leaving his ankle “flopping”, Fox News reported.
Olendorf also said that he endured sub-freezing temperatures in a very remote area with no cell reception and no other people around.
“I had to crawl on all fours and my knees—it’s a rocky, dirty, wet trail—and after a while, my knees were just raw,” he said. “So I had the idea to 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.”
According to a CNN report, around 12:45 AM on Saturday, Olendorf finally got a signal so he called 911 to call for help and continued crawling.
He said that he wanted to stay put and wait but thought that he had to keep moving to stay alive.
The Jefferson Search and Rescue volunteers helped the Brinnon Fire Department to rescue the runner who was located by his voice around 4 AM about five to six miles from the spot he where he was injured.
EMTs treated Olendorf for his leg injury and the exposure to cold before the US Coast Guard Helicopter transported him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The 100-kilometre (62-mile) Oxfam Trailwalker, stretches over the hills of the New Territories on the mainland side of the territory
The 100-kilometre (62-mile) Oxfam Trailwalker, stretches over the hills of the New Territories on the mainland side of the territory AFP / TENGKU Bahar