Another good news story - a chance to practice serious first aid skills

[eisely]

This from Indiana....

 

LAKE MONROE, Ind. (AP) - A 59-year-old Bloomington man who fractured his leg while hiking was rescued by a Boy Scout troop.

 

Peter Bartczak went on a hike in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness on June 30, but got his feet tangled in a stick and fractured his leg in two places.

 

Hours passed, and Bartczak remained on the ground, fighting the severe pain and watching his leg swell.

 

He couldn't walk on the leg.

 

He is retired and lives alone, so he thought it would be a while before anyone noticed his absence, especially since he didn't tell anyone where he was going.

 

''I ended up lying there till the next morning. I didn't sleep at all that night, because it was quite painful,'' Bartczak said.

 

''I just laid there, with spiders crawling all over me, and saw the moon come up and the moon go down.''

 

The next morning Bartczak used his arms and legs to scoot down the trail on his rear end.

 

''I made it about a mile and a half in eight hours,'' he said.

 

Then he heard voices, which turned out to be members of Boy Scout Troop 566 of Columbus.

 

The troop made a makeshift stretcher out of wool blankets and a few sturdy tree branches. They carried Bartczak to the edge of Lake Monroe, where they met Department of Natural Resources officials who had been dispatched by boat.

 

DNR officials took Bartczak across the lake to an ambulance that took Bartczak to Bloomington Hospital.

 

Bartczak had fractures in both his upper and lower left leg, and spent five days in the hospital.

 

[htc1992eaglescout47553]

That troop is from my council-Hoosier Trails Council.

[ozemu]

Owww!

 

That means traction and a really sturdy stretcher. Any idea how far they carried him?