David's Rescue- from my perspective.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

8:30am-

David: "Just come. My mom will watch the kids."

Me: "No. It would just be better if I stayed. Be safe, okay. If you die, I am going to be mad at you for the rest of my life."

David: "I'll be fine. Just relax."

Me: "Hey! You need to be nice to me." Dave walks out the door.

Annie comes in to bring me the keys to the car.

Me: "Is he really not coming in to say goodbye?" David walks in. He comes over to give me a hug.

David: "I love you."

Cicely: "I love you too. Just call me and tell me where you are going before you get there, okay?"

David: "We will probably go to either American Fork or Guardmans Pass, but I will call you."

...

12:30pm- "Dave. It's me. I'm just wondering where you are and how you guys are doing. Call me when you get a sec. "

1:00- Why hasn't he called me? He is in so much trouble. No, he needs this time with his friends. It's fine. He's fine. I worry to much.

4:00- They should be getting hungry soon. I bet they will be coming down off the mountain within the hour. Plus, it's going to be dark soon.

5:01- Call David- no answer. Call Annie- no answer. Call Spencer- no answer. Call Scott- no answer. Why don't I have Anna's (Scott's wife) phone number?

5:12- via text: Hey. I'm starting to get worried. Is everything alright?

Check the window. Any cars? Great, it is snowing. Is my phone on? Check the window again. No lights. Call him. No answer. Check the window...

Something is wrong. No it's not. He does this every time he goes snowboarding. He's fine.

5:45- Call Dave.

5:50- via text: It is totally dark outside. You have to be done, right? Call me ASAP.

6:05- Call Annie.

6:14- Call Dave.

6:50- This is getting out of control. Should I even be worried? I don't want to be mad at him. It's going to be fine. Right?

Call Dave.

Call Annie.

Call Scott.

Call Spencer.

6:58- via email-

Hey Joe. I know this is weird, but Dave and Spencer went snowmobiling today- I think they went up to American Fork- but, I can't get a hold of them. It has been dark for hours and I have been calling all of them all day long with no answer. I feel like 8 o'clock is really late to still be snowboarding. Do you happen to know what kind of car Spence was driving or possibly even the license plate number? I'm a worrier. And I don't want to be a widow. Please call me if you get this: 801.520.3585.
Thanks.
-Cicely

7:20- Call Dave.

7:26- Call Dave.

Something has to be wrong. It has been dark for hours and if none of them have service- they are still up on the hill. Something is wrong. No, it's not. It's fine. No, it's not. Something is wrong.

7:30- My sister, brother-in-law and nephew walk in the door.

Me: "Danny? Should I be worried? I mean I shouldn't be right? Or should I be?"

Danny: "It is most likely that there is some mechanical problem with the snowmobile and they are just having trouble putting it on the truck. I wouldn't worry just yet."

Me: "Yeah, totally. Although, I am really worried though."

Danny: "I'll drive up Big Cottonwood to Guardsman and see if I can find their car. Do you know what they were driving?"

No. I have no clue. But Danny said not to worry and I really do trust his judgment. How am I going to tell David that he can't do this anymore without him being mad at me? I can't wait for him to walk in the door so I can hug him. Maybe Anna has some clue about where they are. Maybe I can find Anna's number on facebook or something- at least she can tell me that this isn't a big deal and I can stop worrying...

7:43- Call David.

8:01- Call David.

8:10- Danny walks in- pulls me aside. "I didn't find anything. I think it is time that we call the police."

Oh shit. If Danny thinks we need to call the police then we need to call the police and if the police are involved that means that David is missing and that means that he is not coming home and that means that they either fell off the canyon wall driving down or they are stuck on the hill...in the dark...and cold... Oh, please, no.

Tears.

Danny: "Do you have any idea what car they were driving?"

Me: "No. I emailed Joe, but he hasn't called me back. I don't have anyone else's phone numbers. Spencer lives with his Dad- I could go up there and see what I can find out.

Danny: "I'll drive you."

8:15- We pull up to Spencer's house, a girl comes walking out to the driveway as we are getting out of the car.

Her: "Cicely?"

Me: "Anna?!"

We hug and cry. Hard.

Anna (between sobs): "Where are they?! I'm freaking out! I've just been home by myself so mad at him for not calling and I came up here because I thought maybe they were here. I've been here for about 30 minutes and then you pulled up."

While Anna and I cry and talk, Danny calls the police.

Me: "I'm so glad you were here. I've been trying to get your number. I just don't know what to do? I don't even know where they went or what car they are driving."

Anna: "I dropped Scott off. They are driving a big Silver truck with a big snowmobile trailer."

Our search began.

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The next few hours was spent gathering clues about where they were, what they were driving and what they possibly had with them.

Clue #1: Joe called me back and gave us so more information about the car and the snowmobiles. He also told us that they have been out looking for Spencer past midnight more than a dozen times. This surprisingly made us feel a lot better. But not good enough to stop worrying.

Clue #2: At about 10:00 pm Anna called Scott's parents to let them know what was going on. A few minutes later Scott's mom called Anna and by a fantastic miracle he had mentioned to her that they stopped for food in Heber.

We knew at least what part of the state they were in! This was a major breakthrough for us.

I called the Summit Police Department right away.

Dispatch: "Were they driving a silver Dodge Ram with a trailer on the back?"

Me: "Yes!!!" They knew where the truck was! They knew what canyon they went to! They will know how to find them!

Dispatch: "We were just waiting for someone to call and claim the vehicle- we will send a Search and Rescue team right away."


They have a chance. I hope.

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I did a lot of speaking with the leader of the search and rescue team and Spencer's brother- giving and getting information about what was happening, what supplies they may have with them, descriptions of persons, snow mobiles, or any other information that might be helpful.

Anna was with me. I really liked having her there- she seemed to calm me down.

At about midnight they started the search.

Anna stayed with me and cried and we talked and cried and talked.

It was blizzarding outside and it wasn't making us feel any better.

Anna's dog was in her car and she decided to take him home and then come back up to my parent's house. The blizzard was so bad that she didn't make it to her house. She decided to go to Scott's parents house which was closer and much safer.

I don't think I've ever felt more alone.
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Every once in a while I would get updates from the team. No sign of him.

At 3:30AM the leader called and told me that the weather conditions were too bad- and that he had to pull his guys off the hill. The team would resume the search in the morning.

My world shattered.

Between sobs: "I don't know anything about this sort of thing. Are they going to make it through the night?"

John the leader: "Yes. As long as they built a fire, and found some sort of shelter they should be okay."

"Thank you so much."

I wish I could say that I believed him.

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After that phone call I was not myself. I wish I could explain how I was feeling, but I don't think I can. A part of me knew that he had to still be alive, but most of me thought that something had gone wrong and I would never see him again.

Terrible thoughts.

I sat and watched the fire. Time wasn't moving.

More terrible thoughts. Planning his funeral in my head. How could I possibly continue without him? Other terrible thoughts. The worst thought of all: How am I going to explain to Miles and Faye that they are never going to see their Daddy again? How am I going to explain that to myself?

I'm not strong enough for this.

Every so often my Mom would come upstairs from sleeping with the kids or my Dad would come in and try to comfort me. Like I said, I wasn't the same person. I was mean to my Dad. And I was uncontrollably sobbing and hysterical with my mom.

I guess I just needed to be alone and think about him.

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I spoke to Anna a few times. She was planning on going up to where their truck was as soon as the snow stopped. We ended up going up Parley's Canyon before the storm was over. She had a few of her family members in her car and David's Dad, Sister (Aly), and Brother-in-law (Davey) joined me.

Aly and I sat in the back of the car. She was so sweet to me. She would just hug me or touch me to calm me down. Most of the car ride I was uncontrollably crying again. I tried to stop, but, I literally couldn't.

There were signs of daylight- which meant they would start the search soon.

Aly kept saying: they are going to find them.
Anna kept saying that too.

I felt like I was the only one who was going to be prepared when they told us...
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We got up there and the Rescue team was gathering. There were so many of them. I wanted to hug them and say 1000 thank yous, but all I could do was stand there and let my cheeks get hot and wet again.

The Sheriff gathered us and gave us a little talk about what may or may not happen. I don't really remember what he said, but it was something like, "We can't promise anything and it may not be good." I'm pretty sure that everything else he said was positive, but I don't think I got past those two things.

The men geared up and one by one left on their snowmobiles to find my husband.

More and more people showed up to help. And more and more people called and offered help. There were thousands of prayers and thoughts. and I am grateful for every single one of them.
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At 10:15AM the Sheriff came out with his walkie-talkie and announced that they were found:

"We found all four of them and they are in good condition. They were somewhere that they shouldn't have been. We should be seeing them in about 30 minutes."

Any words I could use to describe what that moment felt like to me would never do it justice.

He was alive! I would get to hold him again! And I would never let him go. His life wasn't over. My life wasn't over.

About 45 minutes later we saw the brigade coming down the mountain. He was getting close enough to touch. As soon as they pulled into the lot- I ran to him.

"Hey," he sighed with a half smile as he pulled off his mask and hood. "I am so sorry."

I hugged him and sobbed.

I believe I was actually repeating over and over, "You don't ever get to do that to me again!" in between cries. I wasn't sure if he could understand me or not.

He just hugged me tighter and closer and said, "It's okay. I'm okay. It's okay."


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There were a lot of things we found out after all of this had happened.

- There were avalanches near where they were.
- The Sheriff told us later that they hadn't expected them to make it through the night.
- It was literally a miracle that no one was hurt or sick. They each had some minor frostbite, but that was it.
-Not to mention everything that happened to them when they were out there.

The Team Leader and the Sheriff just kept saying how "lucky" they were.

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I know that physically he was there and that I could see and touch him, but I think I was afraid that it was just my imagination and he would be leaving again soon.

I couldn't help but just stare at his face and be holding on to some part of him.

We got to ride down the canyon together side by side, thanks to our friend Matt Call. I heard David's side of the story. It was amazing. And awful. And wonderful. And it is something I will never forget.

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Now, it is January, 26. This happened two and half weeks ago. For some reason, it took me a really long time to write any of this down. I started a few days after it happened and couldn't get myself to finish it. Until today. And I'm really happy that I have. Maybe now I can get past it and not cry every time I talk or think about it.

Someone told me that- although it was awful, she hopes I don't ever really get over it. So I always have that feeling of complete and total love for David in my heart forever. And I will.

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the situation. Too many to share. And most of them- probably too personal as well, but I will say this: I love that man. And I am so immensely grateful for the prayers and miracles that took place on that day.


Click here to get a view of what happened on David's side. David's sister, Annie, blogged this just after the event.

Before I finish, I want to add one very important thing:

Thank you a million times to the Search and Rescue team. The Wastach County Search and Rescue team are one of the best in the entire nation. And they are all volunteers. Every one of them. I am incredibly grateful for their amazing expertise and wanted to just hug each one of them that came triumphantly down the mountain that day. You guys have no idea how incredible you are and how many people your efforts affect. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Loves.
-Cicely