Hiker Recalls Being Stuck in Quicksand in Utah Park

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man who was stranded for hours in frigid weather with his leg sunk up to the knee in quicksand at a creek in Utah's Zion National Park said Tuesday that he feared he would lose his leg and might die because the quicksand's water was so cold. Ryan Osmun, 34, of Mesa, Arizona, told NBC's "Today" show that he hallucinated at one point while waiting several hours alone after his girlfriend Jessika McNeill left him last Saturday to get help. "I thought for sure I would lose my leg," Osmun said. "And then toward the end I thought I wasn't going to make it." Quicksand can form in saturated loose sand and standing water — the combination found on the river bed trail Osmun and McNeill were hiking, said Aly Baltrus, Zion National Park spokeswoman. Osmun had stepped into a small hole filled with it, Baltrus said. "When water cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that cannot support weight and creates suction," Baltrus said. The trouble for Osmun and McNeill began about four hours into the couple's hike on a popular route called "The Subway" in the southern Utah park. McNeill said she sank in the quicksand. After Osmun freed McNeill, he got stuck. She tried to pry his leg out with a stick, but realized that effort would not work. With no cellphone service in the remote area, they decided McNeill would have to go for help. She left him with warm clothes and decided the fastest way to get help would be to sw...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Patient Care Operations Source Type: news