(NewsNation) — A stranded hiker was rescued thanks to a train passenger who noticed something amiss outside their window.
The 20-year-old hiker fell off a cliff in the Colorado wilderness, broke her leg and was stranded for three days before she was spotted by someone in a passing train.
“Not only did she spend two nights in 20-plus degrees, she had no food, little water, no shelter and just a tank top and shorts,” said DeAnne Gallegos, with the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management. “So it really was a miracle that she survived three days and two nights on her own by the riverbank.”
Gallegos took part in the rescue and said the hiker was able to tuck herself under a boulder to protect herself from the elements.
The hiker had gone off the Colorado trail before falling off the cliff and getting injured, in a place where she was unlikely to be spotted by others hiking in the area.
If not for the train passenger, Gallegos said it was unlikely she would have been found.
“This particular search and rescue call, took helicopters, trains, railroad pop cars, hiking, forging across the river, it took all of that to get to this particular patient,” Gallegos said.
During the day, the hiker told rescuers she would drag herself to the riverbank in hopes of getting someone’s attention.
The injured hiker had to be lifted out using ropes before being flown to a nearby hospital for treatment.
