Amber plummeted off a cliff while hiking, but her determination kept her alive!
The sun began to set, painting the landscape Amber Kohnorst was hiking gold and bronze.
An experienced hiker and lifelong animal-lover, the 25-yearold Rochester, Minnesota, R.N., had traveled west to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. But fi rst, she’d stopped for a one-night stay at a rustic cabin in Cane Beds, Arizona—just enough time to explore the extraordinary rock carvings the area was known for.
Now, as she examined the fascinating petroglyphs, Amber lost track of how far— and high— she had gone.
Her watch read 7:45. It’ll be dark soon! she gasped, feeling a flash of panic.
Carefully, Amber began making her way back. Suddenly, as it grew darker, her foot sunk into a hole.
No! she cried as she began falling off the path and over the cliff, her head smacking into the rocks and her body slamming onto a concrete ledge 100 feet below . . .
Praying for help When
Amber’s eyes fluttered open, she felt both frozen and on fi re: She was unable to move, yet lying flat, she screamed in excruciating pain. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was after 9 p.m. She’d been unconscious for more than an hour.
As an ICU nurse, Amber had seen patients who endured horrific accidents. She knew her back and pelvis were seriously injured.
She checked her cellphone: no signal. So she blew her survival whistle. Yet in the middle of nowhere, nobody could hear her.
I don’t want to die out here! she swallowed hard.
As the night passed, pitch black with the wind whistling around Amber’s broken body, she slipped in and out of consciousness. When awake, she tried to make peace with what was perhaps meant to be.
I’ve lived a happy, amazing life. I have a great family. Love. I’ve traveled to beautiful places. But then, Amber would be overwhelmed with sadness. I have so much more life to live! she thought. And she knew: She also owed it to the people she loved —the ones who loved her— to keep fighting. So as dawn arrived, although she was in agony, Amber began pulling herself up the cliff face, trying to get back to the path where someone might fi nd her.
Gasping, breathless, on her hands and knees, she somehow made it 50 feet before becoming wedged in a two-foot crevice.
As the morning gave way to afternoon, Amber feared no one would ever fi nd her. So though she knew they wouldn’t go through yet, she snapped photos of her bruised face, then typed a goodbye text to her parents.
I’m sorry. I’ve fallen. I love you, she tapped, tears spilling down her cheeks. Then she closed her eyes, waiting to die.
Tougher than she imagined Meanwhile,
when Amber didn’t check out of the cabin she’d rented, the owners checked her room— and discovered her bed had never been slept in. Knowing Amber had gone on a hike, they called Search and Rescue.
It was evening once again when Amber heard . . . something.
At fi rst, she worried it was just her imagination. But then: I’m not hallucinating. It’s people!
Using every ounce of the little strength she had left, Amber blew her whistle. And when she heard a helicopter, she waved her one free arm. I’m here! Please, please fi nd me! “There she is!” a rescuer called. By the time the emergency crew rappelled down to Amber — still 50 feet below the trail— she had been in the wilderness 28 hours. Using a rope harness to hoist her up, she was airlifted to a Utah hospital.
There it was discovered that Amber had fractured her back in three places, crushed her pelvis, broken her nose and her ear had been torn off. She required emergency back surgery.
But she had survived . . . “It’s nothing short of a miracle,” everyone marveled.
Ten days later, Amber flew home, where she continued to be hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic.
At fi rst, she couldn’t even bend to put on her own shoes. But Amber reminded herself: I’m here. I can do this! And soon she was back on her feet.
Today, Amber is back at Mayo— this time as a nurse. And she will soon be going to the Best Friends sanctuary after all.
“I appreciate every single thing and every single day now— because I’m alive! And I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me,” Amber says. “Life is tough sometimes, but so are we. It’s amazing how strong we truly are!”