Climber injured in Eldorado Canyon fall, 2/7/09

That's great news about an unfortunate situation. Hang in there Jay. My thoughts are with you,
Mal

Jay is a good guy and a good climber. I'd like to see a particular questionable comment about details of the accident removed from the site, as it is personal in nature and I think it's respectful to keep certain things to one's self, especially when they are hearsay. If you thought he acted strange after the accident, fine. Maybe it could be because he hit his head, or maybe your perception is colored by other expereices.
As for the facts of the accident, that someone is injured or recovering, details like where he fell and whatnot, OK, lessons to learn, but let's let him have some privacy. His wife has related the information that they wished to be public.

Before posting anything, ask yourself if you would like what you are saying to be said of you. Is it entirely true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? (EDIT to add: Does it respect the people involved?)

I will be removing this comment when the particular comment I am referring to has been addressed.

Tony -- I would have to disagree with you here. It is important to note the delineation between when self/buddy rescue is a priority and when it's important to have more hands on a situation by having an organized rescue response for stabilization and transport.

Granted, the patient's condition is not to be discussed by responders -- I don't see that here; but recreational climbers should know how to react when they come upon a situation like this & how this situation came to be; they may have helped save a life in this instance.

I feel like I gleaned something important here: keeping someone still and not moving is very important for a possible spine injury. We might all know that, but now I think this accident will be in the back of my mind during an actual emergency - if I ever need to use the info...hopefully not.

Good luck on the recovery. Hope you're back home soon.

Mark, you are absolutely right. We were there at the time of the accident (climbing Hand Crack) and were among the first people by Jay's side. The details of the experience can never fully be relayed, but we think the comment that Tony is referring to (posted by Ron?) is actually the most informative summary of what happened.

It is crucial to know that a climber who has been in an accident (and who is in A LOT of pain) may become resistant and want to move, despite the risk of causing further (and potentially irreversible) damage to himself. This says nothing about Jay's character. It only warns other climbers of the possibility that responders may have to PHYSICALLY restrain an individual who may have suffered a spinal injury. There were 5 of us at one point stabilizing his neck and back. It was an extremely difficult position to be in, holding him down when all he wanted to do was move, but we had to keep his ultimate best interest in mind and follow 911 protocol. Others can benefit from reading these comments.

So, in response to Tony's comment: Is it true? Yes. Is it kind? Maybe, maybe not. Is it necessary? Absolutely.

The events of that day have been replaying over and over in our heads. We can't think of anything that could have been done differently or better. Possibly the single biggest factor in the outcome of this accident is the fact that Jay was wearing a helmet. In addition, the RMR and paramedic teams that responded were extremely efficient and competent.

We are relieved to know that Jay is okay and seems to be recovering well. We wish him all the best and extend all our love and support to him and his family.

-Crystal and Jimmy

First of all, best wishes to Jay.

Second, this is a sobering reminder that accidents *do* happen. In my mind, the best thing to do is to be prepared and take a wilderness first aid class (offered fairly regularly via NOLS and others in the front range I think). It has come in handy more than once for much less severe accidents than this one for me. If anything, it might be worthwhile to buy the little pocket-sized WFA guide and stuff it somewhere in your pack!

And kudos to the WFR who immobilized Jay's head/neck for nearly an hour, despite Jay's persistance in trying to get up, and in spite of others passing by arguing to let Jay move. Jay's outcries were very convincing to others who did not witness the accident that he was being unfairly held down. He did the right and very best thing for Jay by not letting him move his head, and guiding the rest of us to keep his torso still, in spite of Jay's pleading.

Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery, Jay!

Tess DeLaney wrote:And kudos to the WFR who immobilized Jay's head/neck for nearly an hour, despite Jay's persistance in trying to get up, and in spite of others passing by arguing to let Jay move. Jay's outcries were very convincing to others who did not witness the accident that he was being unfairly held down. He did the right and very best thing for Jay by not letting him move his head, and guiding the rest of us to keep his torso still, in spite of Jay's pleading. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery, Jay!

I want to first wish Jay all the best.

I'd like to second discuss what is said above.
Too the WFR on scene...GOOD JOB.

I'm a working EMT in the Metro area, ie it's something I've done professionally for 9 years.
I've also been involved in a couple of rescue's in my climbing career, most notably last spring in Eldo.

What I want to point out to people is that when a Doctor, Paramedic, EMT, or WFR are onscene of an accident, whether they are onduty or not, the scene is their's until relieved by a high or equal medical authority. If you would like to help that's fine, but you need to realise that all decsion's regarding medical care will be made by the medical personal onscene. If something is done that further harms the patient...it *could* get the medic into trouble...they are responsible.

In the case of this accident(I'm purely going by what has been said here)it sounds like other folks were trying to tell the WFR how to provide care. In the form of telling the WFR to not restrain the patient. What the WFR did was absolutely the right thing. Had the patient gotten up the results could have been death or paralysis.

When people have serious head injuries they are very often combative. It has nothing to do with them personally and is not something for them to be embarassed about later...they are simply "not themselves".

Don't be afraid to help! But please allow any medical personal onscene to do what they are trained to do....without making it harder than it is already.

Heal fast Jay!

josh

It's exciting that Jay's accident has opened a dialog regarding proper first aid procedures, especially head injuries. As you'll see by the update from his wife below, it seems Jay has a tendancey to want to get up and go when he really should be sitting tight. I am, again, grateful to those who knew to keep him still on the mountain the other day.

Hi all,
I wanted to give you an update on Jay.
He’s still in ICU, and his condition has been about the same since yesterday morning.
When we left the hospital on Sunday evening, he seemed to be recovering very quickly. However, yesterday morning he was very grumpy, extremely sad, and in a great deal of pain. We found out around noon, though, that he had only pushed his pain med button 3 times in 5 hours……you’re supposed to press the thing every 15 minutes, so no wonder he was in so much pain. Throughout the afternoon, then, he dosed himself regularly, and his condition improved a lot. The pain in his legs got much better, and his mood improved tremendously. Eli, Chandra, and Maddie came to visit around 5pm, and he had lengthy, coherent conversations with them. We left at 6:30, but then I know Jason Price and the Krugmans came to visit him during the 7:30-8:30 visitation time.
Unfortunately, when we got the hospital this morning, the day nurse (Dot, who is AWESOME!), told us that he had a very rough night. So apparently after the pain med started building up in his system, he developed a reaction to it. He became very incoherent during the night and tried to get out of bed – he said he needed to “go to class.” Then he’d calm down and realize where he was, but then he’d get confused again. This was a cycle throughout the night, so he didn’t get hardly any sleep. They are now trying different pain meds to see what will work better for him – now that they’ve taken him off the higher does of pain med, though, the pain in his legs has escalated again.
He has been coherent all morning, though, when awake. He’s eating well, and he has control of his normal bodily movements. The Neurologist says that this is the best sign yet!
So, yesterday we found out that he will be moving to Craigs Rehabilitation Hospital soon – within a couple of days. The doc from Craigs was here this morning to do an assessment. He said he’d be back on Thursday…so I take this to mean that he will probably be in ICU til at least Thursday, and then he might move to Craigs soon after. Craigs looks like a very nice place, and it is the #1 rehab hospital in the country I think. Looks like if you are going to have an accident, we live in the right place.
I also want everyone to know that I didn’t seem to have a clear picture of Jay’s recovery time-frame when I sent the last email. He will not be going home for a while, but I really don’t know how long “a while” even means. I don’t imagine that it will be any sooner than 2-3 weeks, though.
Thank you all SO MUCH for your support – your emails and calls have been wonderful. And to all who have left voice messages, thank you for understanding that I probably won’t call you back for a while….I’m on the phone with so many different people right now, that email seems a wonderful way to communicate with as many people as possible regarding Jay’s condition/updates/improvements.
Please keep the emails and calls coming though….they really do help. For those of you in the area, we welcome you to visit whenever you like, as much as you like. The visitation hours are 8-2, 4-6:30, and 7:30-8:30. Please know, though, that only 2 people can come in the room at a time. There is a waiting room right around the corner, though, to hang out so that visitors can shift in and out of the room. If you do come, he’s at St. Anthony’s Central (which is near the Highlands area of downtown, right across from Sloans Lake.) He is in the Neurosurgical ICU, room 201, which is on the second floor. Park in the garage and come in the main Hospital entrance. The elevators are off the lobby to the left. Off the elevator, take a right down the hallway to the ICU areas, and the NSICU is on the left.
Please feel free to pass these updates along to anyone…..I’ve tried to go through Jay’s email to get the addresses of people I don’t have, but I know I don’t have them all, especially for family. Ask anyone you forward to email me so that I have their address and can add them to my distribution list. I think that’s all for now, and I’ll try to update again soon.
Love,
Emily

Best of luck you Jay!
And good work to the WFR.

I was out climbing Green spur, not near the accident I think, and while climbing it we heard a loud crashing sound, like someone trundling a big rock. It crazy to think that that sound was probably Jay falling. It would have been around the correct time if there was an hour lag before the rescue got there.
Just crazy how loud it was. Its gonna make me second guess what I'm hearing from now on. I guess my wilderness first aid training would actually help in a case like that. I've been putting my self under the impression that it wasn't very useful since most of the training involves doing nothing, i.e. immobilizing. But it turns out that that simple thing saved him from much greater damage. Lesson relearned.

Again I hope it is a smooth recovery.

If anyone in the Boulder gets a chance to visit Jay please let him know that the Chattanooga scene sends their best for a speedy and efficient recovery. I got to know Jay while he was living in Chatty and worked with him at a company specializing in adventure education. I lost track of him when he moved to Boulder for school.

The climbing news network moves fast and when I heard that Jay was in an accident I reached out to my contacts. Thanks to all the folks who have given details to the accident. Bigger props go to the first responders and the guys and gals with RMR. I have seen you at work and can say without a doubt that there is no comparison.

-Rod Thomas

I hope for a speedy recovery for Jay! I was only able to share a rope with him for a few days, but he was a great partner for the short time.

Although I have never met Jay, he and his family are in my thoughts. It is always sobering to read about a fellow climber being injured. Get well soon Jay!

Craig is one of the (if not, THE) nation's best for this situation. Jay will be in good hands during his recovery & healing process.

This is a sombering reminder that what we take for granted is to be treated with respect and caution...
Best wishes to the family as they support him in his recovery.. They are suffering as much as him I can bet

God Bless

Best wishes to Jay for a continued and full recovery.

and major props to the WFR and other folks on-scene who did the right thing! As someone else said, an important lesson re-learned.

I'm a coworker of Jay's, I signed up here after I found this thread. Just want to say thank you so much to those of you who helped in his rescue. We're sending our wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.

Good morning to you all once again.
Below is the latest from Emily Perry regarding Jays most excellent recovery. Thank you all for your positive energy and thoughts.
Dan M

"Good Morning,
I tried to send this update last night, but my email wouldn't send - have no idea why. So here's a second shot:

Jay had a much better day yesterday. His pain is under control now, and he was finally able to sleep Wed night for hours at a time. He was so thankful for sleep! He seemed more like his usual self yesterday that anytime before and had more success reading, watching TV, etc. PT came around 11:30 and worked to get him out of bed and into a wheel chair with his brace on. He sat in the chair for two hours. He said getting in the chair was one of the hardest things he had ever done - it was just such hard work.

The docs came and said that he'd be going to Craig hospital on Monday. They was said explicitly that he would walk, it will just be a matter of time. He might need a brace for a while. I also think right now that he will probably stay at Craig for about a month, although the doc said that sometimes people who are recovering better stay longer, because they can do more work.

So then Jay moved out of ICU to a room around 8pm last night. He's now in E562 and the phone # is 303-629-4460. That's the nurse's station #, so ask for Jay's room. He's much more up now for calls and lots of visitors. I'm also going to get him his cell phone today, so I think you can call him on that too. (You couldn't use cells in ICU).

He wants me to send an email with his picture in it, so I'll try that soon. Thank you again for all your support - please do continue to email, call, visit, and pray. And you can also send emails directly to jay at jay_perry99@hotmail.com or Jay.Perry@colorado.edu.

Love,
Em"

Fantastic news on Jay, thanks Em.

you go get em Jay! I know you're up for the biggest challenge yet. we are all cheering for you!

nos vemos

let's not celebrate to early.