On a field trip in late September, Renee Love’s paleontology class helped a woman with an injured foot.
The group of University of Idaho students crossed paths with the injured woman at the John Day Fossil Beds in Central Oregon.
“The students did one trail that switch-backed down, and she was around the bend,” Love said. “I saw them hiking and we heard her scream and cry out in pain.”
Love’s students did not avoid the emergency. Instead, they walked toward the woman, her husband and her daughter and asked how they could help.
“Her foot was dangling at an unnatural angle,” Love said. “By the time I got up (to her), they were trying to make a splint for her leg.”
Love, who is currently recovering from an injury of her own, offered to loan the woman her boot. The boot stabilized her foot significantly more than the attempted splint. After it was secured, the students and family discussed the safest way to move the woman to safety.
“(Her husband) started to try to figure out how to carry her, but the daughter couldn’t have,” Love said.
At this point, Isaac Cook, Sawyer Shan and another student stepped in. The three worked together to carry the woman back down the trail. They took turns carrying the weight and took frequent stops.
“I was worried that the students that were carrying her were going to get hurt,” Love said. “It was really hot and there was lots to trip over.”
None of the students in Love’s class were injured as a result of their generous actions, she said. The students carefully made the journey back to the trailhead with the woman and her family, ensuring they got to their car safely.
The family went to the hospital as Love and her students continued their field trip.
Love said she and her students did not learn the name of the woman and her family, and she was unable to provide an update on the woman’s medical condition as of publication time.
Love had originally planned to have the students hike a half-mile trail between the two parking lots, but she offered instead to let them ride in her car because they had worked hard that day. Her students declined the offer, preferring instead to see the rocks and trail they had planned to see. Love, impressed with their dedication, agreed to let them hike.
After the hike to the other parking lot, Love and her students sat down for lunch. Love gave a safety talk and thanked her students for her their compassion and hard work.
“It’s pretty incredible — the good will of people — and how they automatically started to organize and assess the situation, even before I got there,” Love said. “The students were on it. … These students are caring people. They’re responsible.”