An injured trail runner said he was spurred on by the thought of his family as he crawled on his hands and knees in subzero temperatures for more than 10 hours in Washington’s remote Olympic Peninsula.
Joseph Oldendorf, 26, had no cellphone service when he broke his leg on ice during a run along an isolated, snowy trail on Friday evening. He later told Seattle station KIRO-TV from his hospital bed that he was about 12 miles into a 20-mile run when the accident happened.
Dressed only in light running gear, he tied his shoes to his knees and began the slog to find help in the freezing wilderness.
“I had to crawl on all fours and my knees ― it’s a rocky, snowy, dirty, wet trail ― and after a while, my knees were just raw,” he said. “So, I had the idea to put my shoes over them so I would at least have some traction and a little bit of protection, but they’re still really messed up.”
Incredible. Joseph broke his leg while running on a remote trail with no cellphone service this weekend. He crawled for hours before getting a cell signal — then kept crawling, about 10.5 hours total, until help arrived. He’s now recovering in Seattle. @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/dY6OmJ9hpf
— Michael Spears (@MichaelKIRO7) February 24, 2020
Here’s what his knees looked like after crawling on all fours for about 10.5 hours on a rocky, snowy trail with a broken leg — Joseph said he eventually tied his shoes around his raw knees and kept crawling.
LIVE 5:30p & 6:30p on @KIRO7Seattle https://t.co/mOge9e0xf9 pic.twitter.com/CoMJLaPEFu
— Michael Spears (@MichaelKIRO7) February 24, 2020
Oldendorf said that in order to keep his broken leg from “flopping out of alignment,” he had to face chest down while he moved painstakingly forward, thinking of his family to keep himself going.
“I don’t want my family to hear I died in the wilderness,” he said. “I think it’d be unbearable.”
Eventually, he moved far enough ― around five miles along the trail ― to find cell service to call for help just after midnight. About 4 a.m. Saturday, the Brinnon Fire Department located Oldendorf and hoisted him to safety, according to a statement.
Jefferson Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post that he was treated for exposure to cold and a broken ankle, and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
Brinnon Fire Department firefighter Jerry Rule told KIRO-TV that it was certainly a “rugged part of the Olympic National Forest” and Oldendorf was a “lucky guy” to have survived the ordeal.