Ursula Bannister was fortunate to have a group of strangers come to her rescue after she broke her leg in three places.
It's not often you see an almost-80-year-old woman hiking alone, much less on a trail considered a difficult hike. But for 79-year-old Ursula Bannister, the trek up to High Rock Lookout in Washington state is a meaningful annual tradition. She had scattered her mother's ashes atop the lookout 23 years ago and she goes back to lay flowers at the scenic spot overlooking Mount Rainier every year.
She usually goes with a family member, but this year she couldn't find anyone to accompany her. The 3.2 mile hike is steep, but as an experienced hiker with poles, she wasn't nervous about it. She made it to the top, ate her lunch and took some pictures. But soon after turning around to make her way back down, her foot caught in a hole and she fell.
"I decided to cut over to the trail, through some bush," she told KOMO News. "I went bushwhacking and my right foot found a critter hole...I went down and I knew right away. My foot was broken."
She wrapped her leg and tried to get up with her hiking pole, but her ankle collapsed under her when she stood on it.
Bannister was in a lot of pain and cried out for help. Soon strangers found her and one called 911, but the dispatcher said it would take about five hours for a search and rescue team to arrive. Bannister asked if anyone had pain killers, but no one did.
That's when 20-year-old U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May and some friends came along to help. Rather than have her wait for search and rescue, May and his friend, Layton Allen, offered to carry Bannister back down the trail.
"I knew I was capable of carrying her down," May, who is stationed at Washington's Joint Base Lewis-McChord, told MSN. "I really didn't make much of a decision, I just knew I needed to carry her down if I could."
But May and Layton were not the only strangers on the trail to offer their services to help Bannister down the mountain. A physical therapist used wood scraps to build a splint and bandaged her up. An occupational therapist helped keep her calm by doing breathing exercises with her. When May's cowboy boots -- which he said he wears everywhere -- started giving him blisters as he carried Bannister down the trail, another stranger who saw the situation gave May his own boots to wear. The group who accompanied her shared stories and asked her questions about her life to distract her and keep her from screaming in pain during the hike down.
Bannister said it felt like all of these people were "behaving like angels coming from the sky" and she was so thankful for their help.
May took the brunt of the physical labor, carrying Bannister for most of the 1.6 mile down the mountain, taking turns with Allen as needed. To make the slow, steep trek more comfortable for Bannister, they put a backpack on the front of whoever was carrying her and ran her legs through the straps to stabilize them a bit.
Allen then drove Bannister to the hospital in her car with May following in his car. They waited with her at the hospital until her son arrived.
"I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that these people literally came out of the woods to help me and they were totally unselfish and kind," Bannister told MSN.
Bannister ended up with more than 10 screws and a plate in her leg, which was broken in three places. And Airman May ended up with a medal of achievement for his selfless rescue of the woman.
"One of the Air Force's core values is service before self, and Airman 1st Class May clearly exemplified that core value with his actions," said Lt. Col. Joshua Clifford, 62nd AMXS commander. "While our team of Airmen showcase amazing accomplishments every day, we relish the opportunity to focus on one Airman's courage and recognize them for truly living the Air Force's core values."
"Carrying her down that evening wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it was the right thing to do," Airman First Class May told ABC's David Muir.
A tearful Bannister also offered her "heartfelt thanks" to all of the people who helped her.
"People are amazing," she told KOMO. "You know we might not agree politically we might not agree socially but we certainly agree on the human platform and people will drop whatever they're doing to help somebody in need," Ursula added.