Walking Well: Injuries

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At the depth of our despair, about 5:10 p.m., we heard voices and rejoiced at the arrival of well-equipped Paramedic Ronnie Lovette and his team, led by Mike. We learned that while Mike was trying to find help, he was nearly taken for a vagrant (with a beard and no pack) by the deputy sheriff. Fortunately, Mike was able to convince the deputy that we needed help up on the mountain, and despite the holiday, a volunteer force was rapidly mobilized. It was a pleasure and relief to hand over supervision of our patient to Paramedic Lovette's expert care. We waited briefly until a larger support group arrived (from the Quality Care Ambulance Service, Southside Fire Department, and Erwin Rescue Squad) with a Stokes litter to carry Elmer out after splinting his leg.

The narrow trail required that they cut long saplings to support the litter with two men in front and two in back to reach No Business Knob Shelter in one mile. From there we bushwacked back to the vehicles and then endured a harrowing nearly two-hour jeep ride down the mountain in the dark to Erwin and the Unicoi County Hospital.

At the hospital, one look at the X-ray films of the fractured tibia and fibula (it didn't take an expert for interpretation) justified the magnificent outpouring of at least 23 people on the mountainside from Erwin, Tennessee, and neighboring North Carolina towns. But our problems were not over. Elmer (an ex bank vice president) had given me his wallet and I was having trouble getting him admitted until the clerk spied the magic health plan card. The on-duty resident physician was able to contact an orthopedic surgeon in Johnson City, who scheduled surgery for the following afternoon. The surgeon was highly qualified, having studied details of plate and screw size for each fracture type at a specialized Swiss research institute. He inserted a stainless steel plate secured by seven screws to align the tibial fracture site and dealt compassionately with Elmer after surgery.

At nearly midnight with no place to stay, we were grateful for Lynn from the Nolichucky Gorge Campground Hostel, who gave us a ride to the hostel. The next day we did errands, visited Elmer before and after surgery, advised him to fly home to New Jersey (he took the bus and later admitted it was two days of hell), wrote and submitted a newspaper article, and were helped by several friendly Erwin people.

We are tremendously grateful for the community help and the fine care for our friend Elmer. He recovered well from the surgery, and the next year ran a 10K race at his previous pace with no pain or problem.

Mike and I completed our thru-hike in October.