Kiwi airlifted from desert waits for op
Woman in agony with shattered pelvis but grateful for kindness shown since rescue
The Kiwi hiker who lay trapped in the sun in an American desert for three days with a shattered pelvis is awaiting surgery to piece her broken bones back together.
Former Aucklander Claire Nelson, 35, has posted a photo of herself in a California hospital while awaiting pelvic reconstruction surgery.
“Hello from Palm Springs hospital,” she wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Nelson has been in hospital since a rescue helicopter crew found her lying badly injured in Joshua Tree National Park frantically signalling for help on Friday afternoon (local time).
She had been out hiking when she fell off a boulder and broke her pelvis on the Tuesday afternoon.
Nelson has shared the story of her ordeal on social media, telling followers and friends how she was unable to sit up or move at all to escape the punishing Colorado sun.
“I just lay there, using a stick to help cover me for the long hot parts of the day when the sun was burning, and at night tried to keep warm and not get panicked about rattlesnakes.
“My water ran out Wednesday night and I survived by drinking my own urine.”
Nelson had been house sitting for friends in Joshua Tree while they visited Morocco, but the friends became worried when they couldn’t get in touch with her and couldn’t see her posting on social media.
They contacted search and rescue on Friday morning, and six hours later she was on her way to hospital.
She heard the rescue chopper fly over several times with someone on a megaphone calling her name, and was able to signal to them using her T-shirt and hat tied to a stick.
“The guys on the chopper said they never would have found me if I hadn’t made a flag to wave. Nobody could hear me scream. I would have died by the weekend.
“I cannot believe I am alive. “Now I’m in hospital; my pelvis is in pieces and it’s the most agonising pain I’ve ever felt, but they’re going to operate on Monday and piece me back together with pins.”
Nelson told the yesterday her overwhelming emotion is gratitude “for simply being here, and for the love and kindness I’ve received — from friends and family as well as hospital staff, rescue crew, even
Nobody could hear me scream. I would have died by the weekend. Claire Nelson desert survivor
people I’ve never met who have taken the time to get in touch and wish me well”.
“Physically I’m in a lot of pain — but the outpouring of kindness is something way bigger.”
Nelson did take out travel medical insurance when visiting the US, but said it didn’t look as though her insurance would cover everything.
“[I] wasn’t expecting an incident requiring two helicopters and so many pain medications.”
She will be moving back to Canada once the initial recovery period is over. Nelson is a freelance writer who lived in the UK for 12 years before travelling to Canada.