A 60-year-old visitor to Montana’s Glacier National Park plunged roughly 120 feet after stepping toward a better vantage point for the sweeping scenery — and survived thanks to the quick actions of a stranger nearby.
Ken Nurse was exploring the park with his wife, Renae, and other family members on August 13 when the group pulled over for photos at about 11am. Moments later, the outing turned terrifying when he fell and sustained serious injuries.
“We made it to McDonald Falls and it was so clear. It’s so pretty. And we all got out, got our pictures and everything that we wanted,” Renae told NonStop Local.
Renae said she had gone back to the car to get warm when the ground suddenly collapsed beneath her husband near the scenic stop.
The fall, which happened near the McDonald Creek Bridge area, left Nurse with cracked ribs, a compound fracture to his elbow and fluid in his lungs, SF Gate reported.
A Glacier National Park spokesperson told the outlet that dispatchers were alerted at around 11.20am to reports of a man who had fallen into the creek.
According to the report, a bystander spotted Nurse facedown in the water, rushed in and dragged him to a shallower section before performing CPR until he began breathing again.
“The gentleman’s daughter said, ‘Dad, there’s somebody in the water.’ And the guy was able to pull Ken out by his foot and get into the shallows,” Renae told NonStop Local.
Ken Nurse traveled to Glacier National Park with his wife, Renae, and family on August 13, but when they stopped to take photos at around 11am, he fell 120 feet and suffered severe injuries
Nurse was left with cracked ribs, a compound elbow fracture and fluid in his lungs after the nasty fall near McDonald Creek Bridge
Renae later identified the hero on Facebook as Josh Seppelt, pictured left, who ‘courageously jumped in and saved Ken’s life’
‘And he realized he wasn’t breathing, and he started CPR, and it just so happened there was a ranger that was real close by, and he was able to radio in for an extraction.’
Renae later identified the hero on Facebook as Josh Seppelt who ‘courageously jumped in and saved Ken’s life.’
Rangers made it to Nurse and stabilized him while emergency responders were called to air-lift him out of the park.
Rob Cherot, assistant chief pilot for Two Bear Air Rescue, flew the helicopter that hoisted Nurse out, and said that during the 30-minute journey to the scene they received reports that the man was breathing again with vital signs.
An ALERT medical helicopter was unable to land due to the terrain in the area, the outlet reported.
Cherot said that, upon landing, he noted the ‘slippery’ rock area that was in the water, according to SFGate.
As a member of the crew waded through the waters with an extraction vest, Nurse was ‘responsive but unaware of the event and where he was,’ according to Cherot.
Nurse appeared badly hurt, but when he was brought aboard Cherot noted extensive bruising and bleeding as well as what appeared to be a severe fracture, Cherot told the outlet.
A spokesperson for the park said that dispatch received reports of a man who had fallen into the creek at around 11.20am
After Nurse was carried around a quarter of a mile to the ALERT aircraft on the shore of Lake McDonald, he was transported to Logan Health Medical Center where he spent two days on a ventilator
The bystander, later identified as Seppelt, saw Nurse facedown in the water and waded in to pull him to a shallow area before beginning CPR until he was breathing again
After Nurse was carried around a quarter of a mile to the ALERT aircraft on the shore of Lake McDonald, he was transported to Logan Health Medical Center where he spent two days on a ventilator.
The tourist regained consciousness two days later, and is now said to be recovering, according to his wife, the outlet reported.
Cherot said the stranger who waded in and helped Nurse before crews arrived heavily contributed to the tourist’s recovery.
‘Our part with bringing a helicopter and hoisting somebody down to the water and all – that’s the kind of glamor, dramatic, cool-looking stuff,’ Cherot said. ‘But we did the easy part.’
‘The guy that made the decision to jump in the water and save the guy, that’s the hero,’ Cherot added.
Nurse told NonStop Local: ‘I’m doing pretty good considering. I feel a lot better today than I did earlier. It’s just one step at a time, but I shouldn’t be here and I’m going to do whatever I can to deserve this.’
Renae said the park is her happy place and they plan to return.
‘I just I love it out here. It is so peaceful and it is so beautiful and it just takes your breath away every time. Here it actually took my husband’s breath this time but they gave it back,’ she joked.
Renae said that, after Nurse endured surgery, they were finally able to book their flights and are set to return home on Friday
In an update on Facebook, Renae wrote that she and Nurse would be returning home on Friday.
‘I am beyond grateful that he will be flying home with me tomorrow. I can’t imagine doing this life without him. I know that we are probably forgetting some people, sorry about that, it’s been a rough week! We love y’all,’ she said.
‘I just want everyone who helped me out to get the things they deserve. Because I should not be here right now. I owe everyone my life and I want that to be known,’ he told the outlet.
The Daily Mail reached out to Glacier National Park for comment.
