Bannister arrived at the trail around 11 a.m. and made her way to the lookout. As she headed back down, she made a misstep, and her foot got caught on a hole in the ground. She fell forward.
“By the time I sat up, my foot was pointing the wrong way. I knew right away I had broken my leg,” she said. “I tried to get up with my hiking pole and it collapsed on me.”
Bannister cried out for help, and before long, a stranger approached and called 911. They were told a search and rescue team would arrive in five hours.
“It wasn’t very encouraging,” Bannister said. “I asked this man to please ask anybody if they had pain killers, because at that point, the pain was pretty substantial.”
No one in the vicinity did. But two young men at the lookout came over to see what was going on. When they saw Bannister on the ground in agony, they immediately made an offer: They could carry Bannister to the bottom of the trail.
…
Literally uplifting.
This story is a good reminder of the truth about human beings (told in Rebecca Solnit’s “Paradise Built In Hell”) : when real, actual tragedy strikes, people stick together, we risk our lives for strangers. It’s at the core of our moral sense. It’s what’s gonna get us through what’s coming.
Stories like this help keep that in mind ❤️🙏
Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution. 🥰
I hope I’m still hiking at 79 years old. That’s a rough fall though.
My ma is 72 and is still hiking, kayaking, and living her best life. (:
She also wants to hike the entire Appalachian trail before she turns 80!
I didn’t get a paywall, but sometimes the WaPo does, and if so, here’s a paywall-free link: https://archive.ph/f4tti
This is legitimately so wholesome from start to finish. No “orphan crushing machine” vibes - just a reminder that most people are generally decent and helpful humans.
If this was in the U.S., he might as well have carried her directly to a graveyard. U.S. insurance companies will definitely deny every penny of coverage of an elderly person on a trail. I hope she is wealthy.
U.S. insurance companies will definitely deny every penny of coverage of an elderly person on a trail.
What? Really? Doubt.
