I SURVIVED A MUDSLIDE
SHERI NIEMEGEERS, 47, INVESTMENT ADMINISTRATOR
It was a long weekend in May 2018 and my partner, Gabe Rosescu, and I were taking a road trip from my home in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, to visit friends in Nelson, British Columbia. We are both adventurous, and we couldn’t wait to go hiking and exploring. It was our first trip together after six months of dating.
At around 5.30pm on Thursday, May 17, we were driving on a steep mountain road known as the Crowsnest Highway. I was texting updates to my family and enjoying the view. We weren’t aware there’d recently been f looding in the area. When I looked up from my phone, I saw a wave of mud and an enormous tree barrelling down the mountain, right in front of our car, a little Hyundai Elantra. Gabe tried to brake, but it was too late.
I looked at him and we both said, “Oh, shoot!” – the understatement of the century. The mudslide sent our car plummeting nearly 300 metres down a rocky cliff. It landed on its side among some trees.
I don’t know how long we were unconscious, but I woke up to the sound of Gabe moaning. He was slumped over the steering wheel and there was blood everywhere. Outside my passenger window there was a steep drop. Every time I moved, I was hit with excruciating chest pain. I had broken my sternum and my right ankle was smashed and practically turned backwards. Gabe had broken his orbital bone and nasal and cheek bones. Parts of his skull were crushed and his vision was damaged. But the body is an amazing thing, and somehow we were both able to crawl out of that wreckage.
I was so focused on our survival that I didn’t register the wrecked state of the car or where we were. We had no phone signal, so all we could think of doing was to yell for help. But my chest hurt too much to even breathe. So Gabe started shouting as loud as he could.
We were shocked when, after just a few minutes, we heard someone call back. Four bystanders had spotted us and were wading through waist-deep
mud to rescue us. I couldn’t walk, so the men took turns shimmying me up the rock face and helping Gabe make his way up to the road. Gabe was in shock, slipping in and out of consciousness, and I honestly didn’t think he was going to make it. When the paramedics got to us, they let us kiss each other goodbye from our stretchers as they loaded us into separate ambulances. I was swearing a lot as they took us away – I didn’t think I’d ever see my boyfriend again.
They took me to the closest hospital, in Trail, and Gabe was airlifted to the trauma hospital in Kelowna. Throughout the flight, they kept shocking him to keep him awake. I was in the hospital for a week and a half, but they kept Gabe for six weeks. My surgeon had to reconnect the main artery in my foot, and Gabe’s surgeon had to split his scalp open three ways to reattach everything. Even after surgery, I’ll walk with a limp for the rest of my life, and Gabe permanently lost the vision in his left eye.
Before this all happened, we were happy-go-lucky people. We’re even more positive now. We look at everything differently. Despite the injuries we sustained, we’re grateful that we’re still living a pretty good life. The experience also bonded us as a couple. We still go on road trips. A year after the accident, we drove back to the Crowsnest Highway and gave the finger to the mudslide.