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Prayers please.

Yesterday while my father in law and I were on horseback, about 5-6 miles back in the Wyoming high country looking for deer, we had a terrible accident. At about 1 p.m., while going up a steep trail, my father in law's horse slipped back on it's rear end, right at the edge of a cliff. He tried to lean forward and save it, but it was just too far gone. His horse fell backwards on top of him and together they tumbled down a 140-160 foot rock cliff.

Only by a miracle of God, he wasn't dead. Amazingly, neither was his horse, and was also still rideable. But, my father in law was banged up, in a bad way. He could stand, but not walk. I carried him up out of the drainage onto the trail, and managed to get him back on his horse. Another set of hunters saw it happen and beat feet over to us, and let me use their sat phone, as we were at least 40 miles on a very bad dirt road from phone service. When I called 911, they said that the ambulance couldn't get to us, and if he was already on a horse and stable enough to move, we could get him out before search and rescue could get there. So together, we carefully rode out to the truck, and I drove him out of the mountains, being careful on the bumps, and got him to a hospital.

There, they found he had a broken C6 vertebrae, broken pelvis, his knee had been dislocated, and subsequently/accidentally relocated when I picked him up and put him in the truck, and gave him a lot of stitches for multiple large lacerations on his head. Worst of all, they found that where his neck was broke, the bone that broke is causing a blockage and possible damage to an artery, which could lead to a blood clot, and possibly stroke. He was life flighted to a larger hospital with more resources, where he is at as of right now. They also want to do more tests as they were concerned about something they saw in his abdomen.

We are all praying for him, but more praying never hurts. Thank you everyone, and God bless.
Prayers for his recovery.
 
Yesterday while my father in law and I were on horseback, about 5-6 miles back in the Wyoming high country looking for deer, we had a terrible accident. At about 1 p.m., while going up a steep trail, my father in law's horse slipped back on it's rear end, right at the edge of a cliff. He tried to lean forward and save it, but it was just too far gone. His horse fell backwards on top of him and together they tumbled down a 140-160 foot rock cliff.

Only by a miracle of God, he wasn't dead. Amazingly, neither was his horse, and was also still rideable. But, my father in law was banged up, in a bad way. He could stand, but not walk. I carried him up out of the drainage onto the trail, and managed to get him back on his horse. Another set of hunters saw it happen and beat feet over to us, and let me use their sat phone, as we were at least 40 miles on a very bad dirt road from phone service. When I called 911, they said that the ambulance couldn't get to us, and if he was already on a horse and stable enough to move, we could get him out before search and rescue could get there. So together, we carefully rode out to the truck, and I drove him out of the mountains, being careful on the bumps, and got him to a hospital.

There, they found he had a broken C6 vertebrae, broken pelvis, his knee had been dislocated, and subsequently/accidentally relocated when I picked him up and put him in the truck, and gave him a lot of stitches for multiple large lacerations on his head. Worst of all, they found that where his neck was broke, the bone that broke is causing a blockage and possible damage to an artery, which could lead to a blood clot, and possibly stroke. He was life flighted to a larger hospital with more resources, where he is at as of right now. They also want to do more tests as they were concerned about something they saw in his abdomen.

We are all praying for him, but more praying never hurts. Thank you everyone, and God bless.
He is in our prayers,
 
Yesterday while my father in law and I were on horseback, about 5-6 miles back in the Wyoming high country looking for deer, we had a terrible accident. At about 1 p.m., while going up a steep trail, my father in law's horse slipped back on it's rear end, right at the edge of a cliff. He tried to lean forward and save it, but it was just too far gone. His horse fell backwards on top of him and together they tumbled down a 140-160 foot rock cliff.

Only by a miracle of God, he wasn't dead. Amazingly, neither was his horse, and was also still rideable. But, my father in law was banged up, in a bad way. He could stand, but not walk. I carried him up out of the drainage onto the trail, and managed to get him back on his horse. Another set of hunters saw it happen and beat feet over to us, and let me use their sat phone, as we were at least 40 miles on a very bad dirt road from phone service. When I called 911, they said that the ambulance couldn't get to us, and if he was already on a horse and stable enough to move, we could get him out before search and rescue could get there. So together, we carefully rode out to the truck, and I drove him out of the mountains, being careful on the bumps, and got him to a hospital.

There, they found he had a broken C6 vertebrae, broken pelvis, his knee had been dislocated, and subsequently/accidentally relocated when I picked him up and put him in the truck, and gave him a lot of stitches for multiple large lacerations on his head. Worst of all, they found that where his neck was broke, the bone that broke is causing a blockage and possible damage to an artery, which could lead to a blood clot, and possibly stroke. He was life flighted to a larger hospital with more resources, where he is at as of right now. They also want to do more tests as they were concerned about something they saw in his abdomen.

We are all praying for him, but more praying never hurts. Thank you everyone, and God bless.
Lord Jesus I come humbly praising You and thankful for all Your blessings please Lord please bless this man with healing and strength in Jesus Holy name amen
 
Update - on a brain scan, they found a small dot from the beginning of a stroke, from the clot in the neck. Thankfully they got him on blood thinners soon enough that it is inconsequential. His neck vertebrae are not stable and may need surgery, we will find out hopefully a little later this morning. Even if not, at least another 6-8 weeks with a neck brace, best case scenario. Still waiting to hear more on the broken vertebrae in the lower back. They also found that his wrist is broken too, they are going to do more scanning to determine if it needs surgery, for now they are putting it in a splint. As would be expected, he had a pretty bad concussion, but seems to be ok from that. His pelvis is stable, and once all the more serious matters are stabilized, it can be full weight bearing and he can walk on it as much as he can stand to. He will be at least another week here at the U. But we're getting a little better picture as to what is going on, and where we are headed moving forward.

Much less important, but absolutely heart breaking to him, his rifle that I just finished for him a few weeks ago, and this was his first time hunting with it, was pretty much destroyed inside the scabbard. I think the barreled action, trigger, and maybe bipod is salvageable. I'm just thankful he is alive, but this has been his biggest concern through this whole thing. I assured him we can rebuild it, so that made him feel a bit better.

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Update - on a brain scan, they found a small dot from the beginning of a stroke, from the clot in the neck. Thankfully they got him on blood thinners soon enough that it is inconsequential. His neck vertebrae are not stable and may need surgery, we will find out hopefully a little later this morning. Even if not, at least another 6-8 weeks with a neck brace, best case scenario. Still waiting to hear more on the broken vertebrae in the lower back. They also found that his wrist is likely broken too. As would be expected, he had a pretty bad concussion, but seems to be ok from that. His pelvis is stable, and once all the more serious matters are stabilized, it can be full weight bearing and he can walk on it as much as he can stand to. He will be at least another week here at the U. But we're getting a little better picture as to what is going on, and where we are headed moving forward.

Much less important, but absolutely heart breaking to him, his rifle that I just finished for him a few weeks ago, and this was his first time hunting with it, was pretty much destroyed inside the scabbard. I think the barreled action, trigger, and maybe bipod is salvageable. I'm just thankful he is alive, but this has been his biggest concern through this whole thing. I assured him we can rebuild it, so that made him feel a bit better.

View attachment 398343View attachment 398344
Let me know if we can help with the rifle. Is the barrel bent?
 
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