A 12-year-old boy suffered a broken leg while on a bike ride on the Herbert Glacier Trail on Monday, according to multiple accounts, but he is expected to make a full recovery after a variety of people worked together to help him.
Capital City Fire/Rescue Assistant Chief Tod Chambers said the department got a call at 3:11 p.m. Monday that a child might have broken his leg. CCFR responded with its Special Teams unit, bringing ATVs and bicycles along with the ambulance.
Responders found the child about four miles into the trail, Chambers said, and then proceeded to splint the leg and transport him back to the ambulance. The boy was brought to Bartlett Regional Hospital, and hospital spokesperson Katie Bausler said the boy had a broken femur and had surgery. The boy was in stable condition as of Tuesday afternoon, Bausler said, and was in the medical-surgical unit.
Chambers didn’t know all the details leading up to the injury, but a post on a popular Facebook page revealed that it took quite a bit of effort to even call CCFR. Juneau resident Marcus Gho posted on Juneau Community Collective that he, his son and his son’s friend were biking out to the glacier when his son’s friend crashed. Gho declined an interview request, but told the story through his Facebook post.
Gho wrote that he rode his bike back to try and get into cellphone range to call CCFR, while his son stayed behind with his friend. Another family on the trail also stopped to comfort the boy, Gho wrote, and he wanted to post on Facebook to thank the responders and community members who did all they could to help.
“Thank you community of Juneau for helping in our time of need,” he wrote. “Please know it was greatly appreciated.”
Chambers said that sometimes accidents and injuries happen when people go out on trails, and in this case he was glad those involved were able to act as quickly and intelligently as they could.
“Thank goodness they kept their wits about them,” Chambers said.
Juneau man in serious condition after respiratory, cardiac arrest
A reported asthma attack quickly developed into a very serious situation early Tuesday morning, Chambers said.
At 6:33 a.m. Tuesday, Chambers said, CCFR got a call about a person having an asthma attack on Douglas Island. Bausler said the patient was a 60-year old man and Juneau resident.
As responders prepared to go to that call, the people who called in the attack were driving to the hospital, Chambers said. From what Chambers understood, the man was having trouble breathing in the car, so the driver decided to pull over at CCFR’s downtown fire station instead of going all the way to the hospital.
The patient was in full respiratory arrest — not breathing — when he arrived at the fire station, Chambers said, and went into cardiac arrest shortly thereafter. The responders worked on the man right in front of the station, Chambers said, and were able to get a pulse back.
The man was then taken to the hospital once he was stabilized, Chambers said. Later in the day, Bausler said the man was flown to Anchorage in serious condition.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
