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Brittany Fintel was climbing Mount Saint Helen when tragedy nearly struck. The 32-year-old was climbing the mountain before slipping on ice and tumbling 300 to 500 feet down the slope because of improper equipment. She was attempting to climb the 8,663-foot volcano when she fell.
Fintel, who is a Navy veteran, said she thought she had died as soon as she began to fall.
“The first thing that hit the boulder was my hip,” Fintel said, via ABC News. “Then I flipped over that and hit my head, and then kept literally rolling down until I naturally stopped. I didn’t have [the] proper equipment for the ice — didn’t have an ice pick to do self-arrest.”
Fintel was laying injured on the mountainside when her service dog remained by her side until first responders were able to come to her aid.
“He made sure that I wasn’t in shock,” Fintel said. “He laid beside me, he licked me, he was extremely comforting.”
Fintel suffered a broken hip, a concussion, and deep lacerations and was transported to and treated at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.
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The U.S. Coast Guard was sent to the scene to help with the rescue, while the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office arrived approximately three hours later. Colton Tourtway, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer, said that Fintel was in good spirits despite the accident and even cracked a joke about being rescued by “Coasties.”
Despite her accident, Fintel is hoping to return to climbing within six to eight weeks.
