Life-Saving Reunion: Wyoming Women Who Survived 40-Foot Fall in Southern Utah to Reunite with Intermountain Caregivers Who Saved Her Life on Thursday
INTERMOUNTAIN NEWS ADVISORY
WHAT:
As a critical care nurse for 28 years, Karen Conner, 58, from Lander, Wyoming, never thought she would be on the other side of trauma care, but that’s exactly what happened last April. Now, she’s excited to reunite with the Intermountain Health caregivers who helped save her life and to thank them for all that they did for her.
What started out as a leisurely walk on April 21, 2023. along a dirt road in La Verkin, Utah, with her husband and three dogs, she soon found she was in an Intermountain Life Flight helicopter being flown to the trauma center at Intermountain St. George Hospital.
Conner had smelled something very foul and went to check it out, when she tripped on a rock, fell and slid down the cliff side – headfirst – falling more than 40 feet. Only a small rock and a bush on a ledge kept her from falling further below into the Virgin River.
A quick call by her husband to 9-1-1, got Intermountain Life Flight in the air. The crew used a basket and ropes to get her out of the precarious position on the side of the cliff to get her to the hospital.
Conner’s spine and neck were broken in multiple places, she fractured several bones in her right leg and left ankle, as well as receiving a serious head injury, cuts and bruises.
“I felt very grateful I was still alive and not paralyzed,” said Conner. “Intermountain Health did a great job putting a mess back together.”
On Thursday, August 15, Conner is making the eight-hour drive from her home in Wyoming to thank her caregivers.
News media are invited to cover this poignant reunion and to talk to Conner, her caregivers and trauma experts about how high-level falls are now the 2nd leading cause of injury in Southern Utah and the St. George region, even surpassing motor vehicle crashes.
WHEN:
10:30, am, MT Thursday, Aug 15, 2024
WHERE:
Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital – Trauma Center
1380 East Medical Center Drive
St. George, UT 84790
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