WCI #393: Heroes of My Life, Part 2
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This is the White coat investor podcast where we help those who where the White coat get a fair shake on wall street. We've been hoping doctors and other high income professionals stop doing dumb things with their money since two thousand eleven. This is White on investor podcast number three, ninety three, the heroes of my life are two. This episode is brought to by sofi, helping medical professionals like us bank born best to achieve financial illness.

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The day today comes from shell B M C. Davis who said, invest for the long hall, get too greedy and don't get too scared I like that quote applies to climate just as much as t does do investors don't get too greedy, don't pick up too big of an uh of an objective, but also don't get too scared while you're trying to accomplish IT. Thanks, everybody, for what you do out there.

As mentioned in our last episode on in this one, i've had a lot interaction would be a medical profession in the last few months and very grateful for those who didn't care of me. And i've really gotten front sea view is a patient into what is like to interact with our medical system. So thanks for all of you out there dedicated so much of your life, so much of your time now to providing that care of people like me.

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okay. I assume that most of you listening to this have already listened to podcast number three, ninety two, the one those are released last week. If you have not yet done that, you should probably go do that at first before listening to any other rest of this episode.

In fact, if you really want the full experience, you should watch this on youtube. The youtube version of this includes not only know a video of the people i'm interviewing, but IT includes some videos that we're taking as well as some still shots taken on the climb and during the rescue. So there's more to see than just what you're hearing on this podcast.

So you'll listen to this on the drive to work or something. Keep that in mind. You may want to check this out later. okay. Let's recap a little bit for those who haven't heard nothing about this in last week, as you recall, we left you in a bit of A A literally a Cliff hanger moment.

When we last left you, I was hanging on the side of a Cliff are two thousand football Cliff, the north ACE of the grand paton Christian, my climbing partner. I are about twelve thousand feet. I've had a terrible fall.

I've fAllen over thirty feet sideways, upside down, smacked my head. I got a serious head injury. I was hanging upside down, leaking fluid from my nose, covered in water from the first camel back, my backpack bleeding all over the place with breathing that was not Normal, and, uh, hanging upside down.

Christian tied me off the belay, followed up to me, turn me over, got me conscious again, and then guided me back to the blade and stabilized me there by timing into the blame, sitting up on this one foot leg, three hundred feet above feet on grater, five thousand feet above the parking lot and below almost two thousand feet of relatively little rock raining down from time to time upon us. And he has pressed the panic button. He has called nine one one and, uh, reached out to the rescuers.

And in toy's episode, we're going to find out what they did as well as the aftermath. Now, obviously, you know the very end of the story, because I was to the victim of this situation, here I am recording podcast for you. But there's a whole lot that happens in between where we left off last week and mire record in in this pot test today. And we'd like to bring up to speed on some.

My name is and Chris, I am a genealogy ming ranger and granted on national park, you know, everybody, when we heard the call for a rescue in the north face of the grand teton, a everybodies years parked up, and everybody kind of pause and was by o IT. Game time.

So i'm Christian. Five hour. I'm an E. R. doctor.

okay. So you talk to the Jenny lake rangers. And what was your sense of this discussion you had with the you lead ranger that day?

Well, I mean, I could tell they obviously knew what they were doing. Uh, my thought was to convince them that I know what I was doing. I guess, trying to give the best description of where we were were and what IT happened and you feel a little but power less. I just give them all the information and hope that they can make a pretty quick rescue. I start out on your phone, but then when he was apparent that we could just talk, I gave them my phone number and they would call me back. And fourth, several times over the next our so um giving the instructions as to how to facilitate this rescue, they said they're not going to send a helicopter up to just kind of make a surveilLance and find out exactly where we were and checked conditions so that they could decide what the best strategy would be for them to rescue us.

okay. So every now and then you've got off the phone with them and you're just sit in there with this contest person asking the same question over again. We can see sf at his nose covered in blood in a very remote place. I mean, there's nobody else up there. You couldn't even see anybody else what you think about where you're at and the situation you are in at that point.

less than ideal situation. I yeah, I mean, we are up there. At least we were in a safe place.

I mean, I had seen a little bit of rock fall here and then even though we were climbing earlier on the road, but we weren't like in the shooting gallery where rocks we're just coming down on stop or anything. The biggest issue was that we were in the shade and you were wet and we were just sitting. They're not doing anything.

So we started get cold. And I get asking you, are you cold? And you said, yes. So I first put your fleet on you, a dug into your backpack and pulling out all your extra cloth put on your flesh few minutes later, asked if you're still cold, you said yes.

So then I put on your your puppy jacket there was in there, but that would help quite a bit after while you said you were still cold, then I put your your hat on underneath your helmet, took your helmet off, put that hat on. Maybe that was my effort at stopping the believing to a little bit, put your home back on and then all the way to putting your shell on. Finally, and that's about all we had try to keep you warm.

Another that I just keep answering the same questions over over about what we doing here. I tell you other i've gone out with certain rescue of the rangers. They're coming for us, but I don't know .

when my name is Michael and I do a bunch of seasonal work as a generate ranger for grantee town national park.

Now let's go back to that morning of August twenty first. When this call came in, what were you doing when you first heard that we were having a problem on the north face? And what were your initial thoughts?

There was about maybe seven or eight of us. I remember a kind of a mix of seasonal and permanent ranger staff at the rescue cash look in metals. And our plan for the day was to do a helicopter base training, a short hall training, which was a very lucky, as IT turned out, that all those resources were there waiting when this call came in. You're literally .

ready at the helicopter stand around the helicopter, ready. Reduce some training with the helicopter.

be up. It's funny how that happens. So I could just been a few of those examples this summer, very similar. So IT, it's ironic how sometimes that happens, but we do a lot of training and very thankful for our program to able to set aside resources and time to stay up on these uh, skills.

One of the duties that most of us have is being a star, certain rescue coordinator for the day, which is the twenty four hour shift. And you're basically the person who takes a call and organizes the rescue if you've done any work within that field of rescue, uh, you call the incident commander I C, A guy by the name of john polite. Us was training to be a sara coordinator.

And so he and I were put together. I've been taken that role for three or four seasons now, and john been around for thirty plus years more as a parameter in the park. But he's kind of join our group and he is one of us these days.

So he was training and I was overseeing and the phone ring at the rescue cash. We saw john disappear. He was probably his third or forth day shadowing someone start coordinated for a few years.

And when that happens, you know he disappear into A A room but there's windows and we are all like washing to see this is something about to happen. And um somebody walked in and took a look over shoulder and solaris scribble down northeast of the grand. And if I am remembering right, I think what caught as I was unconscious, ten minutes, possible head injury, some of the stuff was just scribed on a little piece paper. So that guy came out and announced, ed, everyone, that we had something going on, that we were going to. Divert from our training and .

what what were your thoughts you thought somebody y's up there on this, just lose wandering around you've done before but maybe think nobody got to ever do more than once or twice yeah ah with with the head injury what .

we thought well, you know a few questions come to mind right off the bat. One is a boy. I wonder where they are because that makes a huge difference if you're a hundred or two hundred feet off the ground and you just started the climb or if you're right near the top, or if you're right smack in the middle.

And that particular route has pretty extensive traverses. So IT could be really complex if, for example, you are right smack in the middle of the north face. So that was one of my first thoughts. I wonder exactly where this is. And then a weather plays a huge role whenever we're talking about accessing somebody in train like that be able to use the helicopter and if whether doesn't allow for that because of wind or some other whether limitation, then he had going down the road of a ground based rescue on a on a wall like that. That's that's a whole different story.

no. So what happen next?

So john poeas basically was acting as the sark coordinator, and his job at that point was to collect as much information as you can. So finding out where you are, finding out what happened. And then you know, as I said before, gathering resources, we can have that box checked already.

We're all there essentially ready to go minus some of the climbing year. I think regardless of what those bits of information we're gona tell us, there's a bunch of things that we all could do just to get ready anyways in terms of switching. Are clothing around and getting some climbing here together. Those of us that were waiting to hear more details are just kind of getting busy gathering some equipment like that. And then john came out and a brief the team and assigned roles that kind of typical for our big rescue goes now.

Now just for the sake of those listening, I know what this is, but I think a lot of my listeners may not know what short hauling is. Can you give a brief definition of what a shortfall is?

It's basically moving humans on a fixed length of rope, allow the helicopter. It's usually hundred and fifty year or two hundred foot fixed line. IT sounds kind of crazy if you've never seen him before. It's obviously something we do a lot of training with. So IT doesn't feel risky, relatively speaking, if you picked with the helicopter on the ground and then taking off, hovering about you to underfeed off the grounds and now the end of the rope is just hang off the ground and a ranger or two clip into IT and a way go to all kinds of different sites.

I mean, one question going back to your question before bring that into IT, was um you your specific location if you're going na drop somebody off on short hall? And one thing to think about is that you have road or clearance so that as the helicopters coming in close to the mountain to get the rangers to your location course, you don't want to have the voters be anywhere near the Cliff. So that's that's an issue if you're on a very steep well, ironically, we were talking about doing that kind that exactly that kind of training that day like picking a spot that was what we called typical terrain, like real mountain terrain, not going to a know a parking lot or gravel pedder. Like going up in the mountains and doing the real deal and we've done that many times.

okay. So uh, you're team has been picked. What happened next? Let's hear the rest of the story.

Um so the first thing that always happens is we do A A recon of the site and get eyes on you and see exactly where you are and what we're dealing with.

Okay, so after an hour you hear a and what did they do?

They were just, you know, they came in. They were kind of circling know it's kind of like a big third, you know formed by the other mountains there, mount own and tea and not. They have sent me a link to my phone where I could somehow enable my location to like to track, track us on G, P.

S. But even with that, I guess they could see exactly where we were. And they asked to also what close we were wearing so they could look for us.

And I D give a little update that you were not wearing your t shirt anymore, that now you were wearing a blue shell. And then I actually put on myself self as as red. I thought that would be easier to see.

And I was waving my arms around and trying to see if they can tell where we were. And eventually they said, oh yeah, we see where you are now. And then the helicopter just left. They were alone on the ledge again, and I like, well, they know where we are.

How did that feel? right? The rescue is right there.

And then they're gone. right? They're gone. You can hear the helicopter running anymore.

It's out of sight and out of mind. What went through your head then? Well.

all I can do is trust that they know what they're doing and thinking, I hope they can short hall us because if they drop a team and they tried to lower us and go down to the glaser, that could be a really long process. And I would like to get gym to the medical care as soon as we can.

So we spotted you. I would say there was a little Better relief seeing that you are relatively close to the ground. You know three hundred feeds, so off the of the glasses.

And then, you know, that's also when you're flying around over the site, then that's when you get the best information as far as weather um and things were looking and pretty good at that point. So next step is to come back to the rescue. Cash typically will shut the helicopter down. And from an outsiders perspective, that might seem like why what's going on, why he gets you to be racing out the door and a burning building. And like, you know, we debrief these uh, rescues at the end as well.

And everyone was really happy that we still decided to shut the helicopter down and have a solid, brief ing some of the big questions at that point where, okay, if kani were short hold in, then what's that gonna be like getting right next to you? You know, what kind of a ledge are you on? Can four of us beyond that ledge? And what kind of anchor do you guys have? So plan a was for canada of short hall and together and sounded like you did have a four five piece solid anchor er and allegedly were on was.

I wouldn't call on a hanging belly. You know you you could stand on IT you certainly want to be clipped in is not alleged you would want to be walking around on unroped but time but you're not hanging off the gear so I sounded that I sounded pretty good. So plenty was both of us come in and be inserted right next year if we didn't like anything as we were coming into and was calling distances from your belay spot as were being inserted you know fifty fifty, forty feet, thirty feet um even as closes ten feet, I was eyebrowed the anchor and alleged to see if I was the way IT had been described. And everything was looking pretty good as we were coming and slow and steady. So we touched the rock and clipped into the anchors and unclipped from the helicopter and a wet, wet.

So what are what are your thoughts when you got there? I mean, now you're on this ledge with us, three hundred, three above tea in glaser. Uh, the helicopters gone, at least covering off in the distance. And you got two climbers on that ledge. One m doesn't look very good .

again from the training we have done. IT works pretty wealth. You delegate tasks and kind of stay focused on the things that that you've been delegated. Can is a thematic. So like his focus was you and finding out if there were immediate life threats and thinking about packaging and getting you others time efficiently as possible. And my focus was the Operation as a whole, just what what anchors are like, what conditions are like and just kind of the nuts and volts of moving around in that space and making sure, uh, things aren't tankle and communicating with the helicopter.

Okay, so you you arrive on the ledge with us, uh, clip yourself into the anchor unclip from the short hall line. The helicopter goes off to hover. And my understanding is a mick was in charge of kind of the Operation and uh, the ankara and all that, and you are in charge of patient care. So what did you think of your patient when person or right?

So you know, I got there and honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. See you, you know and I could see this even while we were flying in, you were kind of leaning back on the ledge, your arms were just kind across and you were just kind sit there, you know, moving basically, Normally, obviously protecting the sporting your own airway and just you look like, uh, a bit of a mass, your cover IT faces, all bloody and all that but you you know, you are not crumbled on the ledge like you look like you were doing OK so I was pretty relieved to sit up .

yeah so what, uh what did you do? Uh, as I mean, upon your arrival, you you become in charge. And as emergency physicians, we know this in the field, right? We know once the media to get there, we get out of the way, even if we're on a car seen or something like that because their experience with out of hospital medicine is a is significantly more than aris. And so i'm rams confident Christians just like, okay, i'm not in charge anymore and you're now in charge of patient care. So what did you do?

yes. So in short, not much. So uh, just for perspective, kind of framing things. Uh my training I am nationally registered advanced E M T and within the park service we have a bit of and extended scope of practice and the additional training that uh allows us to do some some things that are uh in a lot of systems, more parameter level, you know arcos pin control, some situation.

Then those were said kato mean, I actually just finished up in A C L S course to do a little bit more than cardiac meds under that program. But you know in the back country, particularly on uh kind of technical scene like the the north face of the grain tea on we don't do much. You know in a lot of ways, we're just a transportation service because the reality is like for whatever our training in EMS, there are very few problems that we're going to fix in the field.

We need to get the patient to the experts who can actually fix the problems. I think of like, uh, one of our longer paramedics who is actually the instant commander of john. Uh, he has a good phrase. He is one of the best parameters s have ever. ExcEllent instructor. He says, sometimes great medicine can be bad to, you know, just imagine, like if i'd been where we're on the north face of the Green tea on, you know that whatever ten or twenty thousand feet on keep, well, we have to be anchored to all just safely be there.

Uh, without be in at risk for fall in off like imagine if i'd try to start an I V and hang a bag and like you're just then, it's complicating anything else we want to do like clearly the standard of care in the emergency room or even in most uh parameter ambuLances in most places in the country would be like every patient is getting and I V if not too probably hanging some fluids. But at the end of the day, i'm not going to fix your basilar skulls frack like we need to get you out of there. So in the phrase of another of our senior rangers, probably the best medicine for you was a big ghost of ja.

because soop and run as where you often call him yeah.

for sure. And so we train for and our kind of prepared, hopefully to manage, you know what we call the immediate life threats. Uh, we go through our X A, B, C or whatever ney month or our rhythm you want to use.

But it's basically those immediate life threats, essentially massive leading airway problems. Basically that kind of stuff like those are the only real problems that we're going to solve or attempt to solve in the fields in the case of a really severe accident before we are going to try to extract the patient. And even in those really, that's the only to buy as time to get them to the experts.

So back to your initial question. What did I do? Not a whole lot.

I was really, as I say, happy to see from far away that you looked like you were doing OK. You were sit up. You're protecting your own airway.

You're not eating out from even from far away like this patient does not look like they're actively dying in from me. So really IT was just what do I need to immediately do for this patient? You're not actively dying. No immediate life threats that I can identify, not bleeding out, airways protected. You know, I put a sea color on based essentially on your mechanism of injury, taking a big fall, uh, hit your head, worried about potential final injuries.

Probably the first thing I did actually really was, you know, my standard, hey, how are you? What's your name? And which is always great to hear you responded, you know, gave your name new basically where you were and basically what happens, and then run through my rapid drama assessment, make sure there are any other glaring life threatening injuries that aren't obvious, because an emergency physic had already done all this.

I didn't get any surprises. And then, yeah, put the sea color on you to protect, uh, your services. Als, fine. And we put you in a scream suit, uh, which is basically kind of a big deep harness and we got ready to get you out there. Those what you need IT was to be not there.

not there, is exactly what I needed to be at that moment. The video taken by Christian when I was leaving this ledge at the bottom of this, uh, two hundred foot cable hanging from helicopter is pretty darn impressive, however, is holding on the youtube version of this podcast. So I recommend you click over there and check that out.

If you're listen to this, you know, in your car while you're working out or something like that, you may want to check the youtube version of this podcast to check that stuff out later. In this video of me leaving that ledge, i'm in a sea color and looks like what I believe saw people call a scream suit. Is that right? Was at the packaging.

Yeah, it's basically a big dial. If you you can think of IT that way, it's like a bag that you just sit in and that clips to the end of the shore hall line and so can and you were extracted first all the way back to loop in metals, which is you know five minute flight or so and then um and then I spent my time just again cleaning up the gear making sure nothing's going to get tangled as we're being extracted and then ten minutes later your partner I got extracted yeah .

he uh he describes IT as A A pretty wild ride, something you do routinely but to fly a hundred and fifty feet below a helicopter, helicopter speed is is apparently fairly exciting. I have no memory of IT, of course, but um but I understand that the a wild right to drop five thousand feet and flies five, six miles down to loop by medals from there .

yeah no IT still is the first short hall training I ever did. I was probably in nineteen ninety eight happened and I so have been doing a lot of training and rescues likes the north face rescue but it's it's still it's still exhilarating now .

I don't remember being short hold of this space, Christ. So we're going to have to rely on your account of what this feels like to be short hold from twelve thousand feet to under seven thousand feet over the distance of what, five or six miles, I suspect, as the road lies tell list what I was like when that chopper came back and attached to you and hold you off the mountain and threw you to the base of the moon.

Well, you know, the they dangle the rope down, we grabs the event has got a big old, uh, ring this kind of the clip in point and i've got a dyna slink that I know others are really strong, but it's like one centimeter wide and this girl hits to my climbing harness and i've got a locking beaner on the end of IT that I clip into that anker point locked at all up. I thought about putting a second, went on and the rangers said, no, no, no.

They like things to be really clean. No messy wedding going all over the place. So one line is attacking me to the rope on the end of the helicopter.

and then IT just lift out. And and this this line is a centimeter wide. And what two cents ter is.

this looks like a little string, but I know it's I know IT was brand new or nearly new, and I know it's really strong, but still look pretty funny when you're found having and off the end of a rope. So we go straight up at first, and then we start moving, and you just feel that went rushing through your hair, you start to sort of drift a little bit behind the helicopters that picked up speed.

And then I look around, and I mean, it's just the most stunning place you could imagine. I mean, i'm looking outside the east ridge up to the grand tea town and looking down at these legs. Is this gorgeous? Remember looking down at one spot and seeing a little backpacking, ten in the trees, some somebody who's camped down there living, but there was exhilarating.

I mean, you're just flying basically. You think about the roller coast to go on. And this kind of puts them all the shame.

So this was the the greatest right of your life without a dought. I'm obviously circumstances are terrible and somewhat terrifying, but pretty incredible ride that sounds like does prety amazing. okay.

So we get transported to the rescue cash, thereby looping metals. And and what happened next with you, with your patient here? You've now got a smoother people there to help.

Yeah absolutely. Um I was glad for that. So we actually had an air ambuLance there in the medows waiting already the uh flight crews there in uh one of our uh senior parameter s in the park was there with the ground, the ambuLance and they were ready and waiting.

When we landed. We basically landed right count between the helicopter, the area ambiance helicopter and the ground. The ambuLance and that crew was ready and waiting with all their trauma, hers to cut all your clothes in your harness often.

H started to doing all the things that, you know, we would like to do in the field though, but can for logistical reasons. Uh, yeah, we wanted. I think you basically just went down on the grounds into cana supine position, just lying on your back. And we got the screen suit off here, and I immediately started cutting your clothes off and, you know, going through all the full assessment, trying to figure out what your injuries were and getting you ready to go there. And the ones.

so what was gone on when you when you find the get to the ground, they dumped in the metal there we fine metal.

the temperature rose dramatically, is pretty cold in the shade, europe in the air, and then you come down and it's nice and warm and tosti, and they just, the helicopter just hovers there and slowly lowers and tell your feet hit the ground, and then you, I, I just unclipped my dinner and we walked away as the got out of the ways that the helicopter could land me and the and the ranger together.

And they ve had a little cabin there that their little certain rescue headquarters. And I go over to the front court and I look over and there's another helicopter and they're actively like loading you on a stretch and putting in the helicopter as the helicopter that brought me out as landing. So I just got a little glimpse of years I put you in a helicopter and then, and you took off right after that.

I called your wife. So this is cannot be a phone call you are looking forward to.

No, i'm just like, well, how are gonna really break this news? But you know your wife Kitty, she's level heading. So he took IT on on stride, obviously very concerned.

surely after the midday VC helicopter left the rescue cash. You received the call from Christian. Can you tell us about that?

yeah. So I had actually just part to the airport. I was going to pick up a friend, son, and he needed a ride in our south to be dropped off. He was arriving in from texas, and I just pulled into the parking lot at the airport and i'm jims truck and out on the screen pops up, Christian rose, five hour. And I said, well, that's not good.

And then as well, maybe it's his wife calling cause he has has a question about something there doing today knowing i'd been up there on the mountains and no, of course, IT was Christian on the phone and uh you know he said, hey kate, jim taken the fall and they are flying him to the hospital right now. You know, he's complaining. He's got some cuts on his head with that are bleeding, complaining about his his right solder hurting and his left race.

He's awake. He's talking, you know, he lost some consciousness and maybe might be a bit naive. 是， i think you don't plated a little bit not wanting to freak me out and so but of course and never it's the call you want to get that your loved one is is being live lighted to a hospital and so he gave me a little bit details you know he was on his way to the hospital.

Um I said call me when you get there because this hospital three and half hours away from home, i'm not trying to figure out what i've got this obligation to take care of this kid and um so try to figure what to do and waiting for really more information to know what I needed to do do I need to run you know, rest to the hospital and sound like he was doing pretty good shortly after I got off the phone with Crystal about three or four minutes later, I get another call it's a fightin's SE um from the metal fight and said you know jim said the he's with the E R dog now he's doing really well. He's away. He's talking now theyve made IT all like you.

He's still pretty good. Um and reality is really didn't know the seriousness of his injuries till probably the second day and I see you when we the dogs surrounding and got a little bit more feedback on and really what had happened um and the extent of his his head injury in his school fractures. Res.

okay, so let's talk about uh uh before that second day of the ICU, at a certain point you start drive and I O and uh and eventually arrive at the hospital to find out your husband's in the ICU and a look in an awful lot like a patient in that I see you um what what do you think then?

You know, I mean, IT was so ultimate test. I end up technic now ourselves, drop him off. I waiting to hear from the U.

R. Dot started. Get a Better since of really what was born on once they have had on scans and IT had been an out a half.

I still hadn't heard him and why I called the E. R. And said, hey, my husband's been flown in there. Can you tell me what's going on? And so they got the nurse that was working with him, and he got on the phone and so he gave me a heads up up well a little bit more of what was you know happening um but still not to extend and just said we're writing into the icon that point in my k among my way um and so I had a five hour drive because you know rest hour traffic had to stop my home to pick up some clothes, not knowing how many days i'd be gone.

Luckily my parents were in town and so they could take care the kids and I could just walk out the door or not really have to worry about what what needed to happen at home. So that was a huge blessing and miracle. And really, I just had the miracle of having this profound peace on that drive, because I didn't know what I was going to go and find at that point.

And I had a lot of people had to call and just sort of IT let me know what I was going on. I um you know call some family that James parents and shillings know what was happening. Um I had to get a hold of his word because he had some shift coming up in the next couple days and just say you got to find something to cover these. He's not going to be working for at least a little little while and so but I had a lot of Peter in that drivin but still the concern of like what's the long term consequences of this, you know it's it's definitely more serious than what he sounded up to this point.

I'm doctor quint ban, half a work at eastern at the original al medical center, and I work in emergency department. So i'm A E R. physician.

Now a number of weeks ago, you've got a call that there was an incoming helicopter with the trauma patient yeah.

So this patient can mean as a IT, does not needed trauma from prearranged. And so then when they rolled through, they kind of went into the the room there I just followed IT right in, uh, and kind of know one as a trauma. We got a little bit of the heads up of what IT was and that was know the mile who would fAllen off.

They just had fell off the tea on the grand tea on which is a very large mountain. So I did know the extent of from that but yeah follow them following into the room and kind of the trauma just started going through my you know the trauma mind trauma algorithm, so to speak and so, uh, the first question I just asked what you know what your name was? A checked A B, C.

And uh, once you said, you know, i'm jim dali, I recognized your voice in the name and as I go, okay, I know who are dealing with here and so but then going through that, I mean your your prime mary survey was was good and that the abc is your g CS was a little bit lower. But as we discuss your injuries, I mean I was twenty five, but um the secondary, I mean there was some definite like yet a the formality on the risk. K some ladies, your fast exam, everything else was was good for that sense though. Uh so then after that we you thank you over A C T scan time for a .

pan scan at this point right .

exactly fall off the grand tea on there. Know, I wanna see what all there is.

You get everything. And at that point.

exactly.

I'm James summers. I do some trauma general and burn surgery. Anaho falls. I met you in the trauma bay here at a mac, and I hope all you came in initially as a partial trauma were upgraded a little bit to a full trauma, partial traumas.

All I got flown in on two helicopters, not like I was, a partial trauma, partial promise. What you got. Unfortunately, you did really well on scene where you still survive the golden hour.

You got yourself off the mountain during that golden hour, and then were human, dynamically stable blood pressure, Normal pulse, Normal interacting with the flight crew. But fifty feet sounds a little bit much to us. So that's why you got the upgrade to a fall and SHE hit our doors.

And so I met you about two o'clock in the afternoon. What sounds like about three hours after after the accident? Yeah, it's actually pretty remarkable how quickly they got me here considering where I was.

Absolutely so yes. So once you're on this scanner, though, I was kind of back in the control room and I saw him just pop them up, I instantly saw the, you know, the air on the brain. And so at that point, and kind of with your G C S, as with thirteen, fourteen or so was kind like waxing and waiting at times.

But I called neurosurgery. And can I got them involved? Because there is obviously going to be some sort of communication going into the brain cause that I didn't seen any blood, anything initially, when I was looking at IT.

But the neural surgeon was aware. And then I also that time, I think I believe with the trauma team. So they were kind of on board while you're still on the scanner.

And then once we brought you back, they had kind of come in and as well at that point. But and we done all our export, the imaging. So like your wrist, we've d extract that and there's A A few injuries with that, the voluntate dislocation of an also some fractures, I believe, in there.

And so we had also that from the imaging part, we found that you had a little, I believe, a little four three fracture and then the rest findings and the numerous catholic, which kind of mentioned before. And so we had E, N, T. As well.

And in a hand surgery can let them know. I don't. They didn't come down in the E R. At that point. I was just the neurosurgeon trauma team and myself.

Now some of the people listen to as many of them will be doctors. Some of them are not doctors. For those who aren't, can you describe what the efforts refraction means?

Yeah, absolutely. So got one, two, three, uh three being the worst and just kind of the bones that IT involves. And so a kind of fracture um you can kind of tell the by bed style bit too. But if you move the maxell, the bone here is it's just the mouth that moves or it's the nose or it's like the whole face that's in out with IT the four three you can of fractured everything around there as well. So your whole face was kind of mobile, considered a nonstate fracture there.

yeah. So I basically detached my face from my score proba fairway, say.

the holman terms. I would agree with that.

Now numeral safely less is, you know, airbag, right? I mean, if you break down the roots, those words air around my brain. And I just saw this scan about five weeks after the fall.

I have not seen my own head CT scan until I went to follow up with the neurosurgeon. I'm a look terrible, look terrible to me to see that much error around my brain. You know, I mean, i've taking care of lots of trauma patients.

I can't remember ever seen one with that much air inside their kull in my entire career. And so that was that was a bit shocking to me. But this whole time that you're seen this cats skin, you're having conversations with me. So I imagine you weren't maybe is worried about IT.

no. I mean, I don't disagree in the sense that yeah that was a significant of the error in there. The level of consciousness that you had be able to answer everything appropriately and um while giving charities and everything you kept saying thank you, thank you, thank you treme repeating that over and over.

But you know, IT was also kind of surprising to, in the sense we see traumas all the time with bleed rocinante MRI gen some form. But IT was kind of surprising to have that extent of numerous fillies in that extent of an injury with no bleed. That was a little bit surprising for sure but yeah, no, I agree. That was the basically with the the forti fracture, you had plenty of her that was able to get up .

in there alright. He had a little bit work to do on me. You had some lasher's and uh, a deformed rist. What else did you do in the E E R before? Admitted me.

uh so yeah so um starting with the face one kind of go down I guess the aheads that believes two or three decent size lustrations there um that required layer closure remember with that no one was the four three fracture trying to be just kind of careful in that sense. But you kept looking away. I was like a bedside here and you kept looking away and I was like, you you have to keep looking at me.

Okay, sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You can thank you over and over. But then I would like put that out, throw a stitch and then you look away again. And then I just um but after cleaning that out early well and we did the uh face and then the wrist.

Um couple things with that with the fraction the dislocation actually just did a hemon a block with IT and so the poster dislocation and so just kind of write in that area just kind of numb IT up with some light of king. And I remember asking you like cake you like feel anything and you feel that and attach IT is slightly and you're like, no but feels like you know fill my fingers either thank you. Thank you so much. Again, you said thank you over over but um but once I was on now I mean you didn't move or anything with that. I was able to kind of push that pull that back on top of the the carpal bones line those up a bit Better and and splint that and then the knee as well washed that out and then right on the knee put a couple horse on the metro seats in there.

And and at that point he was time to send me after the ICU IT sounds like.

yes, the our trauma a team neurosurgeon had seen yet bedside. I've spoke on the phone with our hand specialist and he was aware of the rist I think trauma spoken with E N T but the effort fracture and then yeah at that point where you know least from the E R standpoint um which had found the extended everything and luckily ads again kind of surprising no bleeding anywhere but and yeah so we're able to send up stairs that I see at that point.

So as I was admitted to the ice to you, I had been diagnosed with a the four three fracture of my face, basically detaching my face from my school with new more safely mean all the flu is supposed to be around. My brain had leaked out and been replaced by air and the csf leak, right? The three was final.

Lude was leaking out my nose basically, does I go my the right h cheap phone on my face have been broken. I had facial laceration ation on my forehead. If you're watching the some video, you can probably see this, uh, the scars on my face.

Now, I had a ne lasher's. I had bilateral first rib fractures, right? These are ribs that are underneath your your collar bones and your scapula there. There are pretty well protected ribs, but I broken IT on both sides. I'd a separated my a chromo clasico lar joint on my right shoulder, basic, I had a pointed shoulder on the right.

I had broken a transfer process, uh, my sea seven vertebra, which is basically a i'm not terribly important bond to break in your neck, and I had broken my skateboard bone in my left list and dislocated a pollinate dislocation basically next to that phone, had conclusions all over and had this weird little, not really painful persius. Um on my right knee on a super protector besides which uh, is still there. I'm still trying figure out what to do with that. So quite a list of injuries but certainly could have been dramatically worse given what happened.

I was brand and Kelly. I'm a neurosurgeon and I who falls iho, and I take call at a level two trauma center. And I have a general neurosurgical practice, and I also do complex fine reconstruction.

And can you tell the listeners about when we first met.

we met him in the emergency department of israel origin medical center where I work and you were transported after having a pretty bad climbing accident, you were sitting calmly, uh relying timely on the structure I knew that was you um that gives bands in the E. R. Department here and that he told me that he was jim, dolly and, uh, heat.

I was the climate accident. They said, yes, I was new before I I. Cable.

yeah, yeah. Four sight is remarkable, but I guess not terribly surprising given my hobbies and habits and the part of the country you live in. But I don't recall seeing my initial head scan until I follow up with neurosurgery about five weeks out and I thought I look terrible. But i'm curious what your thoughts were when you first looked at IT since you look a lot more of these uh traumatically injured people's head scans.

And I do I thought I as you said, you know, I didn't show me prank and he was great. You know, you don't have any big proses to your brain and you didn't have any big blood class between your skull in your brain, which is great, but the amount of air you had in your head and course, funny loss. This final suit was impressed.

Now I I don't know. I I looked at the fair number of head scans with new mosley. I don't think i've ever seen that much numerically on heads can in my career. And I imagine that's probably not the case for you given a what you do for a living. But IT was at the a fairly large amount for you or was at the small amount that was .

probably about as much as i've seen. And somebody who look good, i've seen that amount of error and people who are very in very poor shape, but you're in pretty good shape. You are reducing pretty relaxed on the the structure. When I came introduce myself here, I was relief because when I saw that film was concerned you were going to do for ly.

Now you decided to manage my condition, non Operating vely. Was that decision chAllenging? The maker was at a, uh, totally obvious no brain or to go ahead and managed on Operative ly.

totally, obviously no brainer. Spinal fluid leaks are frequently seen after a head injury. Rarely do we see that much air, but jostling and transporting things that nature can cause as actually a bit more.

And as a result, you end up with a lot of fears that leaking and replacing IT. The thing to do really, though, is to bake home and see if any obvious ongoing league e and then just do the conservative care. And conservative care is very simple.

It's just raising the patient head so the head is higher than the fine. So IT takes pressure off the top part of the this final fluid column with the the brain at the top of IT. And then just try to keep that person calm and comfortable and keep getting constipated. Who does not strain or cause heavily or things like that to caused the leak to accumulate is pretty, pretty unspectacular neurosurgical management.

What was that like taking care, somebody you've been listening to for years um .

IT was somewhat humble in the sense that, you know here's someone who's helped me a lot without ever having met me and I was helping that I could do at least return to favor also well, that reminds us all humans and need somebody who's been a great resource and help for me and a lot of my colleagues. And so you are acting just like a human beings at a dead head injury. You are little bit dishabituated make yourself, but you in the hospital and the started to support you what you give them.

You know, when I got there, I mean, he was pretty bashed up. You know, it's a little bit bit of a shocked to walk, walk in. I mean, his face was black and blue. His eyes was and but you know, he was alive and he recognize me. I mean, that that was huge, but I was just, you know, I was got that he was alive and, you know, mentally, he seemed to be doing further good, all things considering.

And you're in the ice to you basically for the next three days. I think this is A A pretty important part of the story for a lot of the doctors on this podcast to hear. You know what IT is like to literally live in that I C. U. Room for the next, you know, three nights, four days essentially tells what .

I was like, well, seems like, why did you go stay at hotel? And I was like, you didn't know what people we're going to come and and round and get, you know, just get more information and to understand more what was going on. And so I had come prepared knowing that i've probably was going to be sleeping in the hospital.

You know, this site, you just had a reclining chair and wasn't awesome, but I didn't have any other desire to leave the hospital at that point to just be the return to start to be, you know, get up today as much as I could have. So what was happening and how his condition was, what was going on? Mean, doctor Kelly, I think that first day we saw at seven A M.

And and in nine forty five at that same night. And so you just never knew when you would see a doctor and really get updates on what was happening. And so just that why I just wanted be there to be able to be there to help mount as you needed. I mean, obviously, you know our nurses are amazing and but they have not going on. And so sometimes jim needed something, and I was able to just jump in and help him. Instead, I have to track on a nurse to figure out what they were doing and and help managers Carry a little bit because obviously he was little worked out, and he could really communicate best what was happening that he'd be, you know, I could tell when he was in a lot of pain because you could not get comfortable, and, you know, but he could always express that just with his his head injure. And so sometimes advocating for what he needed and and being there to help him with whatever he needed assistance with, whether we just get comfortable or going to bathroom needs, help eating or something to drink, and just help in him manage what he needed to have done.

Did they ever try to, you know, push you out of the hospital, encourage you to me, or tell you visiting hours?

Anything like? no. And I had asked when I got to, I see you.

And I just said, what is our visiting hours? What's the situation? Said they could have one person in the room all times that I was welcome to stay. Now they let me know where the closest restaurant room was, but the nurse is were amazing and very welcoming.

And in fact, I think really appreciated my help that I could help with some of the, you know more at unpleasant things have know helping you go to the bathroom um you when you could not get out of bed yet in the view of those things. And so they were great, very helpful. All .

right. Well, you are actually my attending during my hospital course, right? I mean, you're in charge this whole show. What what thoughts did you have about my hospital course? Follows there in charges, the loose time.

But yeah, I got this around on every day and see how things were progressing, which you did very, very well. Fortunately, if you're going to catch yourself from a fall on your face, then come out relatively meaningly injured, all things considered. Well, that was the way you did IT.

You recovered very well. You are greggy obviously we expect that um but you woke up, answered questions appropriately. And I about the day three or four years, ready to go home and keep recovering back local place.

As I understand that, I was asked him to be discharged pretty much every day I was there. Was that hard to tell me? Know every day when IT totally was inappropriate for me to leave the hospital fortunately no, you have a remarkable wife. If there's two people that are responsible for all of your recovery it's gonna Christian and it's gonna be kd. Yeah absolutely absolutely.

You know I spent three ah three nights most of four days in the ICU and uh I I mean I was on the trauma service but h the main reason I was there for that time period was due to the problem you are managing in which was my head injury. Yes, and I understand I was trying to negotiate my way out of the hospital the entire time. How did you decide that when I was actually okay to? O yeah .

the thing is for us, I want did you be at this leak free? No act is find out weekend that that you could report the week of the, at least today. And I I felt that would be a reasonable amount of time for you to go home with a good likely not have to be read mitted for ongoing final week. So usually dare to someone being dry. And also you your reasonable family, you have good access to medical resource if you want home, had to be be admitted that I didn't think you .

were going to be lost following. So saturday morning, doctor Kelly rounds and decides, hey, you know, you can probably go home now what do you think about that? I'm sitting there and nicer you under the care of multiple doctors, multiple nurses, uh, monitor to the gazoo and you're gonna me and put me in your bed at home. What were your thoughts about that by that point?

I was a really concerned i've gym, md. Been asking for every day prior to that about when you could go home. And then they were talking about the things they need to look for and what the concerns were. But i'd been within twenty four seven for those days prior helping with this care. And so I wasn't really concerned about taking him home because I felt we could manage what care he'd been provided so far at the hospital that we could continue providing at home as far as assistance that you needed.

Now doctor Kelly told you not to trust my judgment for a while, expressed my judgment yet and my back to Normal. And we should mention uh tomorrow's nine weeks out from the fall um as we record this .

um I think you probably ninety five percent there. There are still some things that i'm like really. Um there's still a memory issues occasionally, but you're doing really well. All right. Uh.

let's talk a little bit about finances. I mean, suppose a financial podcast obviously, most of the last couple of podcast have not been about a lot of finances, but did our comfortable financial position provide you any reassurance or comfort while dealing with all of this?

Oh, absolutely. You know, your face with the start reality of what would happen if my spouse passed away today, which very well should have happened, could have happened that day based on the fall that he had. H, there's a lot of people that haven't survive similar false.

And, you know, so there's a lot of, like, what, what, what would I ve done if that had been the outcome? But IT was a huge blessing, did not have to worry about, you know, how we repaire bills are because knowing we were financially independent, i'm like, I don't even have to worry about money and even if you'd passed away, I wouldn't have to worry about money and how to pay for a funeral or any of those things. And so that was a huge thing that you don't want to call the medical director and said James gonna out for a while, you know, can somebody cover is just we didn't have to worry about where income was going to come from. And so that that was a huge blessing. That was a huge relief to not have that aspect to have to worry about.

My name is bread Stevens, and I am the C O O, the White code investor, which means I run the daily day Operations.

Now we've talked in the past about the gym gets hit by a bus plan for W. C. I. What in your mind was that plan prior to this incident? Well, now just said.

you know, everyone talks about IT this, the gym falls up a mountain. But uh, the plan and the concern was always what will happen. You know, jim, you're such a key part of of everything we do here.

And uh, from the day that I was higher just almost five years ago, the concern was how do we change that? So if something did happen or sort of you decided make a change in your life that, that the good we're doing can still keep happy. And there's a bunch of different areas where where your face and personality and and belief stands so, so true and are so important to our readers. One of those are on the blog and the other key when is on the podcast.

And so those in those areas we've put, especially on the blog over the years, they put a lot of into making sure we had other writers making sure that if something happened, we could I wouldn't be pretty, but we could at least extract you know, the gym, dolly, from from what we were doing now the politics had something been harder and we have we struggled to to have success with you just do too bit of a job and entire overcome that. But those were the types of plans that we we've talked through and we're working towards. And unfortunately, this was a chance that we had to test that plan, especially, uh, in the immediate aftermath when we didn't know what the your condition may be in the future.

no. Well, let's talk about that immediate aftermath. I mean, kita drive and I A hole. I'm sitting in the I, C, U, right? And it's now your job to guide W, C, I through this period. You got some news to break to some employees and, uh, some guidance to give. Tell us what you did the guide W, C, I through those first few weeks .

you know the first thing that happened for me was very much personal you're a good friend of mine and in the concern was was for you and your family and and in your life .

um but shortly .

after that I will quickly change to to the discussion and what we need to do with W, C, I. I reached out to a few. The key members of W, C, I are executive team. I reached out to Megan and reached out to others who who would have to deal most with the chAllenge of either you not being there in the short term or long term. And we made plans, and we have such a great team making that, such a good job with the podcast and understands well what we're working on.

That was our biggest chAllenge, that with Megan, we we SAT down, and we decided, okay, how can we get through this today? How can we get through this next week? Haven't we get through this next month? And if IT comes to how can get you, we get through this long term.

And honestly, we didn't work away through the long term plan. We got through what we needed to for a week and then a couple weeks and then a couple months. And at that point, IT appeared that you were going to be back in and not too steadily in the head and and able to able to continue what you're doing and continue the mission.

So we didn't never have to get all the way into that long term plan. But with with the great input from others, we were able to quickly come up with solutions. And and it's gone well.

I think it's been we've now our plan gotto strew the months of september in october and involve bringing another guest song and and pulling back to a couple of podcast from the past. And it's found smoothly and the audience has been understanding and taken that well and and its worked well. And on the on the written side of things on the blog, you know, we planned that far enough in advance that getting through a two months like this really was no change at all. We we tweet a few things, move a few of articles here and there. But in the short term, that was pretty simple.

You know, I felt like I was kind of back with and Frankly ready to do go back to work about two weeks out from the fall and was about the time I was recording the introduction to the first podcast people heard you that was out of the ordinary. So it's interesting that way to think about the plan. And I felt like, remember, the first thing I thought was, shoot, we got a plan laid out for the next couple of months.

Let's just do IT and see how I looks, you know, and see how the audience react to IT and what they think of what we're doing. And so we ran a couple of uh, interviews are done in the past. We ran again.

We had a few guest uh host on the show. We had uh josh, our content director, doing some interviews for the milestones podcast. And uh you know the end of the day, after a couple of months, we hear any complaints about IT and the plans seemed to go pretty well. I thought some of the episodes were recorded while I was gone were awesome. And so I thought the plan worked out very well as he was laid out.

I would agree IT went smoothly and it's worked out well. We got to thank everyone who stepped up to help make that happen for sure.

no. Well, bad. Thank you very much for all the guidance you did for W. C. I. As I was recovering, and we appreciate all the after you ve put in here over the last five years.

A lot of people may not realize this, but when brereton's hired, you know, the end of twenty twenty and begin to twenty twenty, I was totally burned out on W, C. I. I was like, I cannot do this long term. This is too much. And we are trying to decide whether to make W, I bigger and hire more help or just make a smaller and do less and, uh, the fact that we got bigger is in large part due to the work key put in the last five years. So thank you very much for that .

when you're very well, when i'm just glad that you're safe and well and the able to come forward. Thank you.

Well, Christian, i've told you this before, I think probably count with times, but I want to do IT once publicly. You save my life. You're my hero. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate what you did on the side of the granted on h for me. So thank you so much.

I know you would have done the same for me. We're kinking partner that the video so are welcome.

And I want to take this moment also to thank Kitty very publicly for taking care of me for the last couple of months. Even now, I there still things with my hand still in a splint as we record this that I cannot do. You know, we just came back from a backpacking trip.

We did. And I literally could not stuff my sleeping bag. I can't put IT in the back, right? I can't roll my pad very efficiently. I can't put the tent up and take IT down.

And so ah so many simple things like that, that she's been taken care of over the last couple of months as well as Carrying the weight emotionally for our family, for our children, for our marriage. Uh, i'm very thankful to you for that. And h, you know, you are part of the lifesaving team. You had medical instructions when you came home. I still had sleep with my head up for a couple of afterward and so you are part of him saved my life, and I thank .

you for that.

This is a financial podcast. We probably need to talk about a few financial things that are relevant, one of which is disability insurance. Now I have been telling doctors to buy disability insurance for years and years and years because IT really does happen sometimes it's usually actually not trauma, like what happened to me, it's usually an illness.

Um you know you develop cancer or you develop M S or you develop some sort of back issue, right? Sometimes that is true is a car accident or recreational accident. Like what I had.

Disability insurance is what protects your income. If you rely on your income or anybody else realized on your income to live, you need disability insurance and you need to buy IT. You know, the earlier you buy IT, the cheaper IT is the longer IT may pay you and the more likely you are to start turning some money as an intern.

Likewise, if anybody else depends on your income, you also need to buy a big fat term life insurance policy. Now we have people that we can a refer you to that help with these a insurance policy. Just go to White code investor c comm slice insurance.

I can help you get disability insurance and life insurance that can be chAllenging if you are a climber. You know, when I first bought disability insurance, I actually had a writer put on my disability insurance policy that basically made IT. So if I got hurt, climbing IT would not have to pay.

And so if I still have that disability insurance policy in place, I wouldn't actually paid me anything for this injury. You think, keep in mind, is long term disabilities is really the financial catastrophe. Want to protect against. Luckily for me, this has been a pretty short term disability relatively speaking.

And h these policies generally don't start paying you until after you've been disabled for three months, actually four months because IT takes them a month to pay a but uh in this case, i'll be back working in less than three months and so IT wouldn't pay me anyway even if a dig cover rock climbing. But in the event that you had a disability last and longer than that, you would be very glad you had disability insurance in the event that you didn't make IT, your family would be very glad you had term life insurance. So please get those pieces of protection in place is really important.

The other thing that you oughta have in place is, especially if you have children, minor children is some a state planning? You know, the basic piece of a state plan is a will. And a will not only says where all your stuff gonna when you die, but more importantly, IT names, who's gonna take care of your minor children, and who's going to manage your assets, your state, on their behalf, until they hit the age of majority.

And so that's also a pretty important thing to have. And sometimes he takes a close call like mine to really convince you that you need to do these things. But I promise you these are not complicated things.

They are not, uh, terribly expensive things. This will insurances Price because he gets used, but not terribly expensive things that you really ought to get in place in your life if other people are, depending on you. You know one of the more interesting things about this, uh, incident obviously had a prety severe head injury.

People describe that to you already and they say when you have a head injuries, sometimes you have a personality change. Well, if my personality has changed at all, IT is changed in a way that has made me dramatically more grateful for those in my life. And um I want to take some time to name as many of my heroes I can buy name on this podcast you heard from Christian final, I climbing partner and friend who literally saved my life.

There are a number of rangers involved in my rescue, far more than we heard from on this podcast. The one in charge was john polite as parameter, a search rescue coordinator. Case Martin was a helicopter Operations manager.

Cody Evans was in charge planning logistics, as was George on topically. Jack mcconnell was a healy base manager. Me by yardly was the medical unit leader Andrew wallers was the dispatcher and logistics the rangers on the helicopter team that came for me include ryan chester, who was the spotted in the helicopter.

John book, who was the helicopter pilot for t county search and rescue and we heard from michelin and can rise, uh, the climbing rangers and and metic C. M, that, uh literally came to me at the end of a cable dangling from helicopter. But there are other rangers involved. There were rangers on the ground team preparing for a lowering Operation.

You know, like what happened in that one thousand nine hundred and sixty seven rescue Chris bino nick armadas is a little forest Young gorden fletcher, casey hurt like see hunsicker and no arranges oski you didn't have to come for me and i'm grateful the helicopter is able to do IT um but thank you for being trained and willing to do so. I was unable to get any any of the names of those in the metaphor helicopter, the second helicopter that Carried me to the hospital but if you you're able to hear this, I want to thank you as well for your works that day. I want to thank the nurses that took Carry me in the I.

C. U, including hether, cmi, kigin and lia, as well as my ear nurse eric. I want to thank the doctors at the trauma at night, now, emergency and clinton van hf trauma doc James summers ers, with my admitting attending William Wilson with plastics in hand, Austin Baker, the E.

N. T. Brandon Kelly, who we heard from the earth surgeon, return to silva, the intensive st.

As well as whose partner, whose name we were not able to get, but who spoke to cade on the phone when he was round to the hospital. I'm grateful to the housekeepers, the cafeteria workers, the AIDS, the text, the r. Ts, the lab personnel, the extra and c tex.

Uh, I work in a hospital. I know there's a lot of people that keep the hospital running besides just the doctors and the nurses. And i'm grateful for your care.

I'm grateful for those who've been taken care of me since I return to utah. These include William gal ski, my recharge air in chAmberlin, who has been Carrying from my shoulder injury at u max. Feel em A S dog who took care of me as well in a follower visit.

Michael cox, my new primary care dog is an internal nanda w bracken, my occupational therapy has been taking care of my hand and shoulder therapy. I'm grateful for the bargee hanson, uh, this dog is the managing part of my group as well as Cassie longer, who is the medical director at my facility and all the dogs who worked by shifts for the last couple of months. I appreciate you dropping what you had and uh, taking care of what had been assigned to me. Thank you so much. Katie also wanted to thank a few people that helped us out in a lot of ways that maybe I don't remembers as well as he does.

As you mentioned, we are so grateful for the medical professionals that took her of him that all in the hospital, but in the following three months, as he's recovered from the injuries from this accident, for all of their professionalism and all the schooling they went to the to be prepared for this day, they were very helpful in the hospital and answering all of my questions that I had and helping managed his care during that time. We also want to think our tribal people, uh, so many friends and family, they dropped everything that drove him to the hospital from hours away to come, said with us in hospital extended family members that just showed up with nails and food for me while while we were there at the hospital and just being taken care of a with meals as we've been home. People stop by to visit to help distraction some from from the bottom of a recovery and I don't .

think that was the term we use. We use the word babysitting, right? Yeah.

there were times we couldn't live in by himself for a violent. So we were grateful for people that come over and and sit with him while I had to be away managing other things, but just thankful for a tribe we are. Thank you for all the prayers that people offered on our behalf um as he would as we've gone through this uh this ordeal and um we're looking for all of that.

We also want to make you aware of a possibility for a donation. The generate climbing rangers actually accept donations that can help them to Better serve the climbing community in the tea toons. And we'll put a link you can go to and make a donation to the genuine late climate rangers, join us and making a donation to the generate client rangers in the shown note, along with instructions on how to do that.

He feels in large part that i've been living on bonus time the last couple of months that, uh, this is time that shouldn't have been in my life, that maybe I shouldn't have survived. And so i've been trying to concentrate on enjoying everything in life, every meal, every conversation with my children, every opportunity to go for a hike, you know, uh, some time in church spent thinking about god and eternity, time with family, time with friends, conversations, uh, maybe we should all be little like we're living on bonus time. No, no, none of us are getting off this plan in alive and the and it's important that we remember that and maybe live every day like IT our last, at least every year like it's our last.

Ask yourself constantly what you want to do with the best year of the rest of your life. And while we don't talk about IT a lot on this podcast or even on the blog all that much, those who have been around long time know that we're fairly religious spiritual god firing people and um a time like this definitely causes you to spend a little bit more time reflecting on the eternal now sometimes it's not entirely clear how much of what's going on your life is nack of god and how much should be attributed to heroes like Christian. And the rangers doctors we've talked with on this podcast so far um as why i've always thought is best to act as if it's all love to you and prayers if it's all up to gone.

But uh well some may see some other events surrounding uh this accident and my rescue and recovery as coincidences. I think there's probably a little more to some of them. And we choose to see the hand of god in our lives and um and attributes some of these things to that kd eluted to miracles in part one of this podcast and I just want to give her a manager to to expand a little bit on some of the macks SHE saw in a in this experience takes him I I truly .

believe that we have a gotten miracles and he wants to plus our lives each day with miracles. Now we don't know why jim s life was spared in this instance, because we know of other people whose lives we took similar false that did not survive those falls. But we are grateful for the miracles that have happened on behalf from this accident.

That was the miracle that he survived the falls. First of all, IT was a miracle that didn't have any internal bleeding. He had no bleeding in his brain.

He didn't have a severe spinal court injury, all which he could have easily happened with this distance of fall. IT was a miracle that he didn't need the ventilator. The trauma surgeon doctor semble told me that he d never seen anybody was such a large snowball, safer st.

That was not on a middle little. So we know that was a miracle that he had hadn't required that because he won't survived out in the willingness if that was the case. IT was a miracle that they were able to rest with him.

With the helicopter, the rangers told me that, uh, north faces in a really steep, narrow canyon that often times has swirling winds until it's really tRicky to get a helicopter in there. And on that morning, IT was completely calm. They were able to get in and bring those rescuers right to the ledge.

Otherwise the rescue could have taken at twelve plus hours into the night to be able to get him off that, uh, well, there's miras to start discharged home after four days um in the I C U and didn't real major surgery others the surgery on his rest we had the miracle of piece through this whole ordeal I had a five hour drive. Not knowing what I was going to find when I got there, but I felt peace that whole time. I had a lot of comfort from family, friends. And as I said before, the miracle that we had grandparents in town that could just take over the care of kids at home, and I didn't have that worry of of where they need to be, what need to be taking care of that I knew they were they were well taken care of why we were away.

Thank you for sharing that Kitty now for the last couple of months, i've been taken at relatively easy. I haven't been working in the emergency department. I felt like, uh, that was appropriate for a couple of reasons.

One, I can do procedures, uh, do my left hand be in the cast in a spring? But that part we can work around. I can just work double coverage while there's another physician in the department that can do any needed procedures.

More importantly, I felt like I was important to give my brain arrest, you know, make sure my judgment came back and make sure my memory came back. And, uh, you know, these are some of things have noticed. My judgment, I think, is probably okay.

Now, my memory is not one hundred percent. I still have a little more troubles with names than I used to have. now.

I ve never been awesome with names, but is some little harder than I used to be. And that has been interesting to me. I ve also noticed I have to use my reading glass a little. I I don't know that, uh, my visions dramatically worse than I was before the fall, but, uh, IT does seem that maybe i've aged a little bit faster as far as that goes in the last few months.

So i've been taken a easy and recovery writing a few blog post I can't type with my hand and this blinds in the case record in a few pot gas, as you've heard, but for the most part, spending time with family, trying to do some P, T. And we have as best I can and I, and trying to make plans for the rest of my life. A lot of people have asked about, uh, what risk taking looks like in my future.

Now I still identify as a climate in an adventure. I like going out and rafting rivers and and expLoring slot canyons and climbing mountains, and probably not gona drop all of that for my life. And I going to take a little bit less risk in the future.

Almost sure, we almost surely. And I ever gna climb the northeast, the grand and tea town again, almost surely not right. When I go back to the grantee on, almost surely I will.

There are much safer, easier, rose on that mountain. And uh, in IT is place that I truly do that. So dining back to risk a little bit is still taking some risk in my life is probably what my future looks like.

Now that's not all that different from financial risk in our lives, right? And we take a lot of risk with investments. You have to if you are not willing to take risk with your investments, you just have to too huge of a percentage of your income that you are not willing to save that much money.

In order to reach your financial goals, you have to take some risk. You have to put the majority of your investments in the stocks and real state risky investments like that and um and sometimes that risk shows up. Thankfully, a good investing plan with plenty of diversification commit mize that risk list in the long term, even if he doesn't necessarily shield you too much from the uh shorter term uh market fluctuations.

But you need to protect against risk in your life, right? That often takes the uh form of insurance. We talked about disability in life insurance a few minutes ago, but also liability insurance for personal liability in your property and autos as well as professional liability, no practice kind of insurance. You know there is risk, particularly as you enter into retirement those first few years, you have what's called sequence current risk.

And you need to have a plan to deal with that, whether that is a less aggressive asset allocation or whether that something like a tip slater or something like a single premium media unity, you should particularly think about that period of time when IT comes to your financial plan in your financial life that burns last couple of years before you retire. And perhaps the first five years after you retire are the equivalent to climb in north face of the grand tea time. It's worth putting on a rope.

Its worth putting in some extra protection and taking a little bit of extra care when you need to reverse that particular section of life. There's risk out there. Life is not risk free.

We all have to deal with IT, whether it's in our finances or our activities or just our daily lives. Be smart about risk and uh, protect yourself, promise best you can, but don't try to run from all risk in your life. You'll likely end up, uh, not having a life worth living if you do that. All right, as I mentioned at the top of the podcast.

So why is helping medical professionals? Because bank borrows and vest to achieve financial illness, but the your resident are close to retirement, supply offers medical professionals exclusive rates and services, help you get your money right, visit their dedicated page, see all the sop has to offer at White code investor dot com slash so far more time. White code investor dot com slash sofi only originated by by bank in a animal last six, nine, sixty nine, one by reserves, by the wealth alc.

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Please sign up if nobody is handed you one of these books in your first year, we probably don't have somebody from your class yet. Please volunteer. Thanks for those of you leaving us five star reviews and telling your friends about the podcast.

We've got a couple of unique five star reviews in the last few weeks. As you know, I haven't been as present on the pod test as I have in the past. In fact, we had had a few really great episodes, buy some guest hosts, and we got some reviews for those episodes.

There were both five star reviews. The first one said Taylor did a great job, did a traffic job, brother to Tyler, such a great job in this difficult time. Five stars, uh, I think was, uh, doctor tude like that.

The second review was, uh, about market. Curtis IT was titled more markets, five stars, markt kurtis ted, a great job. Million in for gym throw clear in the right kings most similar to gym that came from auto eight two.

Wait, thanks so much for those reviews. Uh, five star reviews. Not only let us know one word in that, right, but also help us actually spread the word to others about this podcast.

And when we can spread that word, not only we get to share equal stories like this, one that we share in the last couple of episodes, but more importantly, we get to help people reach financial independence and reach financial stability, where doctors and other professionals can focus more on their data, day work, you know, helping other people, their families, their own mental illness and a Frankly, I just think doctors with their financial doctor arrow are Better physicians. They're Better parents, they're Better partners ah and everything's Better for all of us when nobody y's stressing out about money. So thanks for goes five star reviews and sharing the podcast with others, especially episodes that you think would be particularly helpful for them.

Just send a link to the podcast you've surprised I use for people will find that for the rest of you, keep your head up and shoulder back you've got this week now, whether you are climber or rather adventure, whether you are a doctor or dentist or N N B or B A or pharmacies or some other profession, uh, thanks so much for what you're doing. Uh, let's all become a little bit more financially literate and a little bit more financially stable together and uh and must stay safe out there for all of you to adventures. The host of the White code investor are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors.

This podcast is for your entertainment and information. IT should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult appropriate professional specific advice relating to your situation.