Would like to hear from hikers who have either had to self-evacuate after a tib/fib injury, or who have had to assist another hiker to evacuate after such an injury. Tell me your situation, what did you do to stabilize the injury, how did you get to civilazation? Thanks a bunch!

That's a pretty specific topic. I'm guessing that there aren't a lot of people anywhere who've done that. Are you researching for something, or just trying to convince a SO that you won't die if the titanium rods holding your tib/fib together have to do double duty as tent pegs?

I have been in that situation for a femur injury, but not tib/fib.

Well, for epic tales of self rescue, there's always Doug Scott's retreat from the Ogre

Edited by jcolten on 10/13/2008 17:04:52 MDT.

I've never actually evacuated a real victim, but have simulated it in training. So from a generic point of view, you would stabilize the fracture plus the joints above and below the fracture (ankle and knee) with a splint. In other words, the victim should not be able to move either ankle or knee. I doubt that they would be able to bear weight on the splint either making self evacuation unlikely.

You no doubt have read accounts of people doing amazing thinks during an accident, so I would not say that it would be impossible to self evacuate, but it would be extraordinary.

I walked on a broken fibula for 3 days without realizing it was broken. It wasn't anything heroic or super-human, it just felt more like a sprain than a break. I injured it while downhill skiing at a resort, I skied back to the lodge, wrapped it tightly, walked back to my car, and drove back to town. I still have a metal plate and several screws in my left ankle, but it hasn't bothered me.

A friend and coworker was kicked by a horse (not hers) while on an endurance ride last June, and had to ride in afterward. The injury shattered her fibula and broke her tibia clear through; she didn't realize the seriousness of the injury until dismounting at camp many miles later, and was driven to hospital that evening.

She finally got the boot off about a week ago and is facing more therapy. The xrays are pretty nifty, and I was surprised how long it took for the bones to knit.

My advice: bring a horse, but not a kicking model.

Probably the most amazing story of survival I have ever read is by British climber Joe Simpson. Simpson and climbing partner Simon Yates had just completed the first ascent of Siula Grande and during the descent a fall left Simpson with his tibia smashed through his knee joint. What happens thereafter is almost unbelievable.

Yates spent almost the entire night lowering the incapacitated Simpson down the mountain until an error in their navigation saw Yates lower Simpson over a vertical ledge. There he was, dangling in mid air at the end of 100s of feet of rope, slowly and inevitably pulling Yates of the mountain. So, Yates cut the rope.

Simpson fell into a deep ice crevasse. The account of how he manages to climb out the crevasses, negotiate the ice fields on the glacier and then crawl the five miles back to base camp are just an unbelievable testament to the man's willpower and courage. All of this with a leg so severely broken that it is several inches shorter than his good one.

If you haven't read the book, then do so. Not only is the story itself utterly compelling, Simpson is a highly gifted writer who is able to convincingly impart what it was like to go through such an ordeal. At times I was wincing as he describes what he was experiencing.

There was also an excellent movie made of the whole event. It won a swag of awards and is a very faithful representation of Simpson's book. But read the book first.

Both book and movie were called "Touching The Void".

Edited by lushy on 10/14/2008 04:49:55 MDT.

edited...

Edited by sideshowandy on 10/17/2008 05:35:30 MDT.