WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.570 --> 00:00:04.571 The merciless 2 00:00:04.571 --> 00:00:08.808 wild, the heartless seethes 3 00:00:10.410 --> 00:00:12.312 when nature unleashes her. 4 00:00:12.312 --> 00:00:13.146 Cool. 5 00:00:13.747 --> 00:00:15.849 Could you escape? 6 00:00:16.149 --> 00:00:19.085 Could you survive? 7 00:00:19.085 --> 00:00:20.754 These are the true stories 8 00:00:20.754 --> 00:00:23.656 of outdoorsmen confronted by death. 9 00:00:24.391 --> 00:00:27.694 Armed with raw courage and a will to live, 10 00:00:28.561 --> 00:00:30.597 they are the ones who beat the odds 11 00:00:32.098 --> 00:00:38.071 and return from their own fight to survive. 12 00:00:38.071 --> 00:00:42.575 Father son adventurers trek deep into the treacherous Alaska wilds and. 13 00:00:42.575 --> 00:00:45.879 Cliff areas look pretty chancy. 14 00:00:46.379 --> 00:00:49.482 Following the rugged trail of the white coated, dull sheep. 15 00:00:50.050 --> 00:00:53.253 Before the hunt is over, one man will witness 16 00:00:53.253 --> 00:00:56.856 his son windmilling helplessly through the air from a cliff. 17 00:00:57.624 --> 00:01:01.327 I'm not sure he's going to skipper either. 18 00:01:01.327 --> 00:01:02.128 Helps tell me. 19 00:01:02.128 --> 00:01:05.432 That we have a serious situation and. 20 00:01:05.432 --> 00:01:09.936 That man will learn the outer limits of strength, endurance and commitment 21 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:13.640 of which a father is capable. 22 00:01:14.007 --> 00:01:18.678 The spectacular wilds of Alaska's mountains, an ideal place 23 00:01:18.678 --> 00:01:23.450 for a hunter to pass from wilderness to wilderness, from one place to another. 24 00:01:23.583 --> 00:01:25.452 In the words of John Muir. 25 00:01:25.452 --> 00:01:28.354 But those high places come with extreme risk. 26 00:01:28.988 --> 00:01:31.891 A misstep, a patch of ice or a sliding rock 27 00:01:32.425 --> 00:01:37.030 can hurtle a hunter to the bottom of a gorge. 28 00:01:37.697 --> 00:01:42.302 Growing up a hunter in Texas, Rick Collins was willing 30 years ago 29 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:46.272 to accept the risks of Alaska for its breathtaking wild spaces. 30 00:01:46.606 --> 00:01:49.142 Twice as large as those of his native state. 31 00:01:50.343 --> 00:01:54.114 Well, I moved to Alaska in 1983 32 00:01:54.848 --> 00:01:58.051 and several years and I haven't grown tired of it a bit yet. 33 00:01:58.318 --> 00:02:00.520 And I came because of the outdoor life. 34 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.123 Mainly hunting, but fishing as well. 35 00:02:03.957 --> 00:02:06.593 I like the wilderness situations of being able 36 00:02:06.593 --> 00:02:08.962 to get away from the ground. 37 00:02:10.296 --> 00:02:11.598 This year, Jake. 38 00:02:11.598 --> 00:02:14.100 Came here mostly for the adventure. 39 00:02:15.301 --> 00:02:17.670 August 18th, 26, 40 00:02:18.271 --> 00:02:21.841 Collins and his 22 year old son, Jake, his main hunting 41 00:02:21.841 --> 00:02:25.778 partner, set off for their favorite dull sheep hunting area. 42 00:02:25.778 --> 00:02:28.348 The sheer cliffs of the Wrangell mountains. 43 00:02:29.883 --> 00:02:32.018 Getting to dull sheep territory 44 00:02:32.018 --> 00:02:34.654 starts with a six hour drive across the state 45 00:02:34.988 --> 00:02:40.293 from their home in Wasilla, 46 00:02:40.293 --> 00:02:43.863 then a long slog on ATVs, a muddy four 47 00:02:43.863 --> 00:02:46.232 by four tracks in the late summer fall. 48 00:02:47.734 --> 00:02:50.837 We started running into muddy conditions, 49 00:02:51.104 --> 00:02:53.673 difficulty finding our way through bogs. 50 00:02:54.507 --> 00:02:57.977 We knew early on that we were going to be spending the night somewhere on trail. 51 00:03:04.751 --> 00:03:06.186 To get covered up. 52 00:03:06.186 --> 00:03:10.056 When they have to leave their ATVs, they conceal them to prevent bears 53 00:03:10.056 --> 00:03:11.658 from destroying them. 54 00:03:11.658 --> 00:03:15.528 The other frame of mind at this point is things are going well. 55 00:03:15.828 --> 00:03:19.132 We were confident in our confidence was growing that we were going to be able 56 00:03:19.132 --> 00:03:20.233 to find sheep. 57 00:03:20.233 --> 00:03:23.603 A couple of hours after daylight, which here can come at two 58 00:03:23.603 --> 00:03:25.171 or three in the morning, 59 00:03:25.171 --> 00:03:28.408 the two are out of their spike camp and beginning to see sheep 60 00:03:28.975 --> 00:03:31.377 and to find a place to set up their spotting scope 61 00:03:31.578 --> 00:03:33.913 to glance the far slopes and ridges. 62 00:03:34.914 --> 00:03:37.350 Oh yeah, there is one. 63 00:03:37.350 --> 00:03:39.752 We did convince ourselves that there were 64 00:03:39.752 --> 00:03:44.057 some little rams in the group, although fairly high up the mountain. 65 00:03:44.390 --> 00:03:46.292 The two spot sheep. 66 00:03:46.292 --> 00:03:48.928 But not the trophies they hoping for. 67 00:03:48.928 --> 00:03:52.832 But young Jake is ready to settle for something that at least qualifies 68 00:03:52.832 --> 00:03:55.902 as a legal ram and wants to strike out after one. 69 00:03:56.536 --> 00:03:59.205 And Collins reasons that he might as well. 70 00:03:59.505 --> 00:04:02.508 So I said, Well, it's getting late enough in the day 71 00:04:02.909 --> 00:04:07.180 now that we're those sheep, or I'm sure I can't make it up there. 72 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:11.117 I'm back by dark, so if you want to go get one of those sheep, 73 00:04:11.718 --> 00:04:15.588 I'll stay behind down here by the creek and just monitor you 74 00:04:15.588 --> 00:04:18.358 through the spotting scope as you go up. 75 00:04:18.591 --> 00:04:19.859 Collins Glasses, son. 76 00:04:19.859 --> 00:04:21.561 Jake With his spotting scope 77 00:04:21.561 --> 00:04:24.797 as the young man makes the steep climb to get in range of sheep. 78 00:04:25.531 --> 00:04:29.902 Collins is confident in his son's abilities, but wants to keep him in sight 79 00:04:29.902 --> 00:04:30.803 just in case. 80 00:04:32.238 --> 00:04:32.438 We can 81 00:04:32.438 --> 00:04:38.111 tell from the valley floor that the cliff areas along this bottom of this ridge 82 00:04:38.111 --> 00:04:44.050 trying to get up out of the bow look pretty substantial, pretty chancy. 83 00:04:44.250 --> 00:04:49.389 But of course, from that far away, no real clear indication of how steep they were. 84 00:04:49.989 --> 00:04:52.659 And then once he started the climb, I could tell from 85 00:04:52.659 --> 00:04:55.561 the way he was having to use both hands 86 00:04:56.129 --> 00:05:00.066 and make a few back tracks and try to four rounds 87 00:05:00.066 --> 00:05:03.403 going up, that it was a little more steep country 88 00:05:03.403 --> 00:05:07.674 than I had anticipated it was, so I could tell I was pretty tough stuff. 89 00:05:07.674 --> 00:05:10.643 Get up and I was glad I wasn't having to get up for it. 90 00:05:10.677 --> 00:05:12.245 As Collins watches, 91 00:05:12.245 --> 00:05:15.548 Jake seems to have spotted something out of Collins, his line of sight, 92 00:05:16.049 --> 00:05:19.085 and it looks like he might be moving into position for a shot. 93 00:05:19.652 --> 00:05:21.254 I saw him stop. 94 00:05:21.254 --> 00:05:25.758 I saw him look over that direction, and I couldn't see any animals over there. 95 00:05:25.758 --> 00:05:29.329 But then he started making his way over to that edge of the ridge. 96 00:05:30.063 --> 00:05:32.165 And then I saw him getting his gun ready. 97 00:05:32.165 --> 00:05:35.301 So I figured there were obviously some sheep over there 98 00:05:35.335 --> 00:05:38.237 that looked more attractive to him than the ones we'd seen before. 99 00:05:38.571 --> 00:05:43.343 And then eventually he took a shot. 100 00:05:43.343 --> 00:05:44.877 When he shot, yeah. 101 00:05:44.877 --> 00:05:48.081 I saw a sheep appear falling off 102 00:05:48.514 --> 00:05:52.085 to further to the left across that gorge. 103 00:05:52.085 --> 00:05:54.587 And so I knew he had gotten a sheep. 104 00:05:55.188 --> 00:05:59.392 I saw him stand up and hold his arms over his head like, yeah, I got once. 105 00:06:00.493 --> 00:06:02.595 I got up. 106 00:06:02.762 --> 00:06:05.264 It's been a successful hunt for Jake, 107 00:06:05.264 --> 00:06:07.500 but the full celebration will have to wait 108 00:06:07.767 --> 00:06:11.571 until he finds a way down to the RAM and then packs it out. 109 00:06:11.804 --> 00:06:16.175 Alaska's strict hunting regulations require that all edible meat 110 00:06:16.442 --> 00:06:19.445 must be retrieved from the field for human consumption. 111 00:06:19.779 --> 00:06:23.583 Then he started walking up and down the edge 112 00:06:23.583 --> 00:06:28.054 of this cliffs area from this ridge looking for a way down. 113 00:06:28.087 --> 00:06:31.090 Collins grows uneasy as he watches his son, 114 00:06:31.090 --> 00:06:34.794 trying to find a safe way down the treacherous chutes of the gorge 115 00:06:34.927 --> 00:06:35.962 to the sheep. 116 00:06:35.962 --> 00:06:39.265 I started getting worried about it because I could see that there was 117 00:06:40.933 --> 00:06:42.702 no clear way down for him. 118 00:06:42.702 --> 00:06:45.338 I thought he might be considering 119 00:06:45.338 --> 00:06:47.106 doing something pretty drastic. 120 00:06:47.106 --> 00:06:50.943 And then I see him squat down and obviously take a posture like he's going to jump. 121 00:06:52.278 --> 00:06:54.180 So then I'm really getting worried. 122 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:57.350 Then I see him turn around and face the mountain 123 00:06:57.350 --> 00:07:05.825 and then grab the ledge. 124 00:07:07.427 --> 00:07:10.596 His hands slipped off the ledge and he falls over backwards 125 00:07:11.497 --> 00:07:15.334 and disappears out of my sight. 126 00:07:18.271 --> 00:07:19.338 The realization came 127 00:07:19.338 --> 00:07:22.842 rather sudden and we have a serious situation. 128 00:07:22.842 --> 00:07:25.011 I don't know how serious, but I have. 129 00:07:25.011 --> 00:07:26.012 To get to it. 130 00:07:26.012 --> 00:07:29.248 Jake Collins has fallen, and now his father 131 00:07:29.248 --> 00:07:32.084 must draw on a lifetime of outdoor experience 132 00:07:32.418 --> 00:07:35.922 and the sheer power of his will to save his son 133 00:07:38.691 --> 00:07:40.092 hunting on their own. 134 00:07:40.092 --> 00:07:44.630 Deep in Alaska's Wrangell mountains, Father Rick Collins has watched his son 135 00:07:44.630 --> 00:07:47.667 Jake hurtle off a cliff into a gorge. 136 00:07:48.534 --> 00:07:50.770 Now, Rick Collins must find a way 137 00:07:50.770 --> 00:07:54.106 to rein in his horror and concentrate on his son. 138 00:07:55.141 --> 00:07:55.908 Collins pulls 139 00:07:55.908 --> 00:07:58.845 himself together with 3 hours to nightfall. 140 00:07:59.045 --> 00:08:03.483 He has to pack up rescue supplies and climb up to learn his son's fate. 141 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:05.918 Yeah, I know. It's going to take me a while to get to there. 142 00:08:05.918 --> 00:08:07.653 I haven't seen him. 143 00:08:07.653 --> 00:08:10.456 I have only my imagination to 144 00:08:11.491 --> 00:08:14.160 think about what condition he's in. 145 00:08:14.727 --> 00:08:16.262 Don't know if he's got broken legs. 146 00:08:16.262 --> 00:08:20.733 Broken arms, if he's conscious, if he's not, if he's bleeding and if he's not. 147 00:08:21.067 --> 00:08:22.101 No way to know. 148 00:08:22.101 --> 00:08:25.238 Just grab what I could and started that direction. 149 00:08:25.538 --> 00:08:28.107 Collins is beyond the range of any cell signal. 150 00:08:28.441 --> 00:08:31.410 He has no satellite phone or radio to call out on. 151 00:08:32.111 --> 00:08:36.782 A more serious hindrance is his age as he has to drive his 53 year 152 00:08:36.782 --> 00:08:40.686 old legs to carry him up the slopes at top speed. 153 00:08:41.420 --> 00:08:43.556 About every 15 to 30 minutes. 154 00:08:43.589 --> 00:08:49.562 I'd have to stop for a rest and every time I stopped, I just start yelling. 155 00:08:50.596 --> 00:08:52.164 Jake, I'm headed up there 156 00:08:52.164 --> 00:08:57.036 just in case he was in a position where he could hear me. 157 00:08:57.470 --> 00:09:00.206 The terrain grows only more steep and rugged, 158 00:09:00.773 --> 00:09:04.143 but the most difficult and ominous part is the silence. 159 00:09:04.844 --> 00:09:08.481 Collins receives no answers to his repeated shouts to his son. 160 00:09:09.181 --> 00:09:13.419 My frame of mind is that if I'm getting close to him, 161 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:15.621 he's probably not hearing me. 162 00:09:15.621 --> 00:09:18.391 And if he's not hearing me, it's probably cause he's not conscious. 163 00:09:18.824 --> 00:09:20.426 Collins presses on. 164 00:09:20.426 --> 00:09:22.261 Legs and lungs burning. 165 00:09:22.261 --> 00:09:26.999 And then, without warning, he cites his son lying motionless. 166 00:09:28.467 --> 00:09:31.404 Collins plunges into the gorge to reach Jake. 167 00:09:31.938 --> 00:09:34.040 When I got to him, 168 00:09:34.073 --> 00:09:35.508 he obviously wasn't conscious. 169 00:09:35.508 --> 00:09:39.512 I was talking to him the last five feet or so as I approached him. 170 00:09:40.112 --> 00:09:42.582 I kind of grabbed his shoulder 171 00:09:42.915 --> 00:09:47.219 and I said again, Jake, are you can you hear me? 172 00:09:47.853 --> 00:09:52.224 And he his eyes opened and he kind of looked up at me, but 173 00:09:52.224 --> 00:09:57.964 I could tell there was just a blank stare, no recognition in his eyes. 174 00:09:58.531 --> 00:10:03.436 And he just closed his eyes and went back to complete unresponsiveness. 175 00:10:03.436 --> 00:10:06.505 Greg does a quick exam and doesn't feel any broken 176 00:10:06.505 --> 00:10:09.442 bones, but Jake's head is full of cuts. 177 00:10:09.976 --> 00:10:11.344 Jake, can you talk to me? 178 00:10:11.344 --> 00:10:12.345 Collins considers 179 00:10:12.345 --> 00:10:16.515 trying to carry Jake out, but knows that's impossible in this terrain. 180 00:10:17.650 --> 00:10:18.150 My next 181 00:10:18.150 --> 00:10:22.355 option is, am I going to go to camp to go down there and come back? 182 00:10:22.388 --> 00:10:24.090 I know it's going to take me 2 hours, 183 00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:26.792 very minimum because it took me an hour to get to it. 184 00:10:27.193 --> 00:10:30.796 I don't think that's a good idea because I'm not sure 185 00:10:30.796 --> 00:10:35.401 he's going to keep breathing any length of time, much less for 2 hours. 186 00:10:36.235 --> 00:10:40.706 So I decide that, okay, I'm just going to stay with him with what I have. 187 00:10:40.906 --> 00:10:43.476 And what he has is some parachute cloth 188 00:10:43.809 --> 00:10:46.412 to make an emergency shelter for his son and him. 189 00:10:46.912 --> 00:10:49.749 So I had this with me that I knew I could cover us up with. 190 00:10:50.216 --> 00:10:52.551 I felt like he was off the rocks well enough that 191 00:10:53.619 --> 00:10:56.589 it was a good way for us to spend that first night 192 00:10:56.589 --> 00:10:58.591 and me to make sure he keeps breathing. 193 00:10:58.591 --> 00:11:02.795 Collins beds down for the night beside Jake under the parachute cloth, 194 00:11:03.329 --> 00:11:08.467 sharing his body warmth and making sure his unconscious son continues breathing. 195 00:11:08.934 --> 00:11:12.104 Collins has to fight the gusting, frigid wind all night. 196 00:11:12.571 --> 00:11:16.409 But in the late hours, things take an even more chilling turn. 197 00:11:17.076 --> 00:11:19.245 Then sometime after midnight, 198 00:11:19.512 --> 00:11:22.415 he started having seizures where he would 199 00:11:23.549 --> 00:11:24.383 start to 200 00:11:24.483 --> 00:11:28.087 defend up and he would even start to kick his legs up. 201 00:11:28.888 --> 00:11:31.390 They would only last about a minute 202 00:11:31.390 --> 00:11:34.326 and then go for anywhere 203 00:11:34.326 --> 00:11:38.531 from 15 minutes to a half hour before he would have another one. 204 00:11:38.531 --> 00:11:41.333 And that continued for a couple hours, 205 00:11:41.367 --> 00:11:45.204 I'd say by 3 to 4 in the morning those had stopped. 206 00:11:45.738 --> 00:11:48.874 Sleep is impossible for Collins as he monitors 207 00:11:48.874 --> 00:11:51.711 Jake's condition and lying beside his son. 208 00:11:51.977 --> 00:11:54.080 He searches through the rescue options. 209 00:11:54.780 --> 00:11:57.049 So I'm just thinking back and forth whether I'm going 210 00:11:57.049 --> 00:11:58.150 to leave him in the morning 211 00:11:58.150 --> 00:12:02.521 or whether I'm going to stay to some point when I know I have to leave. 212 00:12:02.521 --> 00:12:06.492 He hadn't stopped breathing throughout the night, so that's 213 00:12:07.293 --> 00:12:10.529 further confirming to me that as soon as it gets daylight, I'm 214 00:12:10.529 --> 00:12:14.767 going to need to cover him up as best I can and go find help 215 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.738 because nobody's going to find us where we are. 216 00:12:21.741 --> 00:12:22.508 Rick builds a 217 00:12:22.508 --> 00:12:25.277 rock wall to protect Jake from tumbling debris 218 00:12:25.511 --> 00:12:28.748 and covers his eyes to shield against scavenger birds. 219 00:12:29.749 --> 00:12:31.884 Collins has done all he can. 220 00:12:32.418 --> 00:12:36.222 Now he must abandon his son, even if only temporarily. 221 00:12:36.622 --> 00:12:44.830 If Jake's life is to be saved. 222 00:12:46.632 --> 00:12:50.536 Rick Collins is cheering the sight of his son Jake taking a double sheet. 223 00:12:50.536 --> 00:12:51.337 Wham! 224 00:12:51.337 --> 00:12:55.107 When the scene turns to one of horror as he sees his son falling 225 00:12:55.107 --> 00:12:57.443 helplessly into a deep gorge, 226 00:12:58.711 --> 00:13:01.380 having stayed with an unconscious Jake through the chill 227 00:13:01.380 --> 00:13:04.750 Alaska night as the injured boy suffers seizures. 228 00:13:05.384 --> 00:13:07.653 Collins makes the agonizing decision 229 00:13:07.853 --> 00:13:10.623 to leave his son in order to go for help. 230 00:13:11.357 --> 00:13:13.793 As you imagine, it's a major decision 231 00:13:13.793 --> 00:13:18.564 for me to actually turn my back on him and start to walk away. 232 00:13:19.632 --> 00:13:21.433 That was a very difficult thing to do. 233 00:13:21.433 --> 00:13:23.502 I knew that was the right thing to do. 234 00:13:23.536 --> 00:13:27.039 I was convinced that I had to leave him, but it took me, 235 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:30.810 I think, three tries of actually turning around before 236 00:13:31.243 --> 00:13:34.380 I actually made myself keep walking away from it. 237 00:13:34.547 --> 00:13:37.016 Rick Collins doesn't have time to look back at Jake. 238 00:13:37.449 --> 00:13:41.854 He's got to move as fast as his legs can carry him back to their space camp, 239 00:13:42.188 --> 00:13:46.892 then on to the ATVs in the desperate hope of finding help for his son. 240 00:13:47.626 --> 00:13:50.162 An hour later, he reaches their Spike camp. 241 00:13:50.663 --> 00:13:54.767 Then two more hours to the ATVs. 242 00:13:54.767 --> 00:14:00.539 But the Thor trail onward is a swamp of mud and muck, and Collins has to winch 243 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:04.543 and muscle the four by four out of the bug holes when it gets stuck. 244 00:14:05.544 --> 00:14:06.812 And got stuck 245 00:14:08.013 --> 00:14:09.415 and at 12 times 246 00:14:09.415 --> 00:14:12.218 probably going out where I had to get off four wheeler. 247 00:14:12.818 --> 00:14:16.322 Then you see that the winch or me 248 00:14:16.322 --> 00:14:20.793 coaxing the rig along, standing off to the side and using 249 00:14:20.793 --> 00:14:24.296 both the engine power and me pulling on it to get it out of the muck. 250 00:14:24.563 --> 00:14:26.966 Finally, Collins reaches his truck. 251 00:14:27.333 --> 00:14:30.603 He has a choice of a short trip to an isolated ranger station 252 00:14:30.870 --> 00:14:32.771 or a longer ride to an area. 253 00:14:32.771 --> 00:14:35.341 He remembers seeing rental cabins. 254 00:14:35.341 --> 00:14:40.045 And I decided to take the chance and go with what I was relatively sure. 255 00:14:40.312 --> 00:14:43.549 There's going to be some form of communication at a lodge, so 256 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:49.455 I head that direction away from the ranger station, and within three or four miles 257 00:14:49.688 --> 00:14:54.526 we come to see a cabin up ahead and a recreational cabin on the left. 258 00:14:55.261 --> 00:14:59.531 So I pull into that cabin and go knock on the door and somebody answers the door. 259 00:14:59.531 --> 00:15:00.266 And I ask 260 00:15:01.400 --> 00:15:03.969 if he knows of how I can get 261 00:15:03.969 --> 00:15:08.007 in touch with emergency services and ask for a rescue. 262 00:15:08.374 --> 00:15:12.344 Collins is Good Samaritan, drives him back to where they can get cell service 263 00:15:12.578 --> 00:15:17.816 and they call an Alaska state trooper dispatcher in Glen Allen, 100 miles away. 264 00:15:18.417 --> 00:15:22.021 The dispatcher puts through a swift chain of calls and a rescue 265 00:15:22.021 --> 00:15:23.722 helicopter is in the air. 266 00:15:23.722 --> 00:15:29.361 From the coolest National Guard Air Force base in Anchorage for more than 24 hours. 267 00:15:29.528 --> 00:15:33.165 Jake Collins has lain unconscious after hurtling off a cliff. 268 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:36.502 Now his father boards the rescue chopper, 269 00:15:36.902 --> 00:15:40.773 wondering if they will find his son again before it's 270 00:15:40.773 --> 00:15:45.077 too late. 271 00:15:45.077 --> 00:15:49.048 For more than 30 grueling hours, Rick Collins has traveled 272 00:15:49.048 --> 00:15:52.851 muddy trails in search of help for his unconscious son. 273 00:15:53.152 --> 00:15:57.523 Now, the rescue has gone tactical as they chopper back in high winds 274 00:15:57.723 --> 00:16:01.560 to try to locate the gorge in which the fallen Jake Collins lies. 275 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:06.799 They gave me a hand laser light and ask me to point 276 00:16:06.832 --> 00:16:10.869 towards the gorge, which I recognized as much more than. 277 00:16:11.303 --> 00:16:14.740 The terrain around Jake is too tough for a cable rescue. 278 00:16:15.407 --> 00:16:17.843 So Rick Collins and the two man rescue team 279 00:16:18.143 --> 00:16:21.947 must bail out of the helicopter and reach Jake on foot. 280 00:16:22.414 --> 00:16:23.449 So they. 281 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:27.786 Decided then that the two para jumpers and myself were going 282 00:16:27.786 --> 00:16:32.358 to have to get out of the helicopter and hike back to where he was 283 00:16:34.026 --> 00:16:35.294 and carry him out 284 00:16:35.294 --> 00:16:38.664 to a location where he could be retrieved by the cable. 285 00:16:38.664 --> 00:16:39.498 Hoist. 286 00:16:39.732 --> 00:16:42.167 Collins worries that a critical hour has now 287 00:16:42.167 --> 00:16:44.236 been added to the rescue effort for his son. 288 00:16:45.204 --> 00:16:47.806 Collins presses uphill as fast as he can, 289 00:16:48.907 --> 00:16:53.078 but fortunately, one of the para jumpers with him, Red Reddington, 290 00:16:53.345 --> 00:16:56.982 takes off at top speed and now races Collins up the slope. 291 00:16:57.082 --> 00:16:59.418 Think I hear him just. Over the top. 292 00:16:59.518 --> 00:17:00.586 That was red. 293 00:17:00.586 --> 00:17:03.355 Took off in the lead and 294 00:17:03.355 --> 00:17:04.390 made his way up. 295 00:17:04.390 --> 00:17:06.592 And he was the first one to reach Jake. 296 00:17:06.592 --> 00:17:10.763 And I heard him breathing against the tarp actually before 297 00:17:10.963 --> 00:17:12.998 he got to where you could see him. Jake? 298 00:17:14.266 --> 00:17:16.602 Jake, can you hear me? Jake. 299 00:17:16.602 --> 00:17:21.273 So I probably got up to him 15 minutes or so after he got to him, 300 00:17:21.540 --> 00:17:27.212 and he was still in the process of getting a tarp ripped away and 301 00:17:28.981 --> 00:17:31.683 evaluating his condition when we got there. 302 00:17:31.683 --> 00:17:34.053 But I know he's still alive then, so 303 00:17:34.653 --> 00:17:38.190 that was a real relief to hear that he was alive. 304 00:17:38.190 --> 00:17:41.727 And as I got up there, I just sat down by Jake 305 00:17:41.760 --> 00:17:44.763 as they worked on him and told him I was glad he hung on. 306 00:17:45.230 --> 00:17:47.666 COLLINS His words are for an unconscious. 307 00:17:47.666 --> 00:17:50.702 Jake The young man feels cold to the touch, 308 00:17:50.936 --> 00:17:53.405 his breathing labored and his pulse feeble. 309 00:17:53.705 --> 00:17:55.808 Yet he is alive. 310 00:17:55.808 --> 00:18:00.345 The three men place him on a canvas litter and begin the rush down the slope 311 00:18:00.612 --> 00:18:04.383 back to where the chopper can reach them. 312 00:18:04.383 --> 00:18:06.385 Anchorage, Lifeline 44. 313 00:18:06.385 --> 00:18:07.653 Kay 32. 314 00:18:07.653 --> 00:18:09.021 We're ready for cable, please. 315 00:18:09.021 --> 00:18:09.688 Lower 316 00:18:11.757 --> 00:18:14.526 Yates Full Throttle to Providence Medical Center 317 00:18:14.593 --> 00:18:19.398 in Anchorage. 318 00:18:19.398 --> 00:18:23.435 Jake is barely alive and he's fallen into a coma. 319 00:18:24.403 --> 00:18:25.237 It doesn't look. 320 00:18:25.237 --> 00:18:30.809 Good. 321 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:31.944 But then. 322 00:18:31.944 --> 00:18:34.580 20 days after Jake Collins is fall, 323 00:18:35.280 --> 00:18:37.483 a miracle, he wakes up, 324 00:18:37.749 --> 00:18:40.686 opens his eyes and speaks two words. 325 00:18:41.286 --> 00:18:42.421 Hello? 326 00:18:42.421 --> 00:18:46.291 And Mom, I didn't know I was in the hospital. 327 00:18:46.291 --> 00:18:48.460 I didn't know where I was. 328 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:51.797 And, uh, I guess 329 00:18:51.797 --> 00:18:56.735 I don't know if it was normal or expected, 330 00:18:57.936 --> 00:19:03.142 but my senses seem to not be capable of being alert all at the same time. 331 00:19:03.542 --> 00:19:05.444 I have a few spotty memories. 332 00:19:05.444 --> 00:19:08.380 I can't see anything, but I can hear people talking to me, 333 00:19:09.515 --> 00:19:11.283 so I don't know if my eyes were closed. 334 00:19:11.283 --> 00:19:14.753 Maybe my vision sense just wasn't working yet. 335 00:19:14.753 --> 00:19:16.021 I don't know. 336 00:19:16.388 --> 00:19:19.591 I had a traumatic brain injury from from the accident. 337 00:19:19.591 --> 00:19:21.927 And the part of my brain that was 338 00:19:22.761 --> 00:19:25.230 most affected was not 339 00:19:26.431 --> 00:19:29.368 what I referred to as the academic side of my brain. 340 00:19:29.368 --> 00:19:32.971 It was the motor part of my brain I couldn't stand 341 00:19:33.138 --> 00:19:35.240 because I couldn't communicate very well. 342 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:35.941 It was 343 00:19:38.277 --> 00:19:39.912 it was like being a baby all over again. 344 00:19:39.912 --> 00:19:43.048 I was completely helpless. I had to relearn 345 00:19:43.048 --> 00:19:46.351 all the functions of being a self-sustaining individual. 346 00:19:46.652 --> 00:19:50.656 And doctors tell Jake a full recovery will take more than ten years, 347 00:19:51.123 --> 00:19:53.358 but it's now just six years later. 348 00:19:53.358 --> 00:19:56.061 He's married with a family and is a teacher 349 00:19:56.061 --> 00:19:58.063 in his home of Wasilla, Alaska. 350 00:19:59.565 --> 00:20:01.800 He remembers little about the incident. 351 00:20:02.601 --> 00:20:05.103 Jake continues to hunt, and he and 352 00:20:05.103 --> 00:20:07.873 his dad have returned to the scene of the accident. 353 00:20:08.307 --> 00:20:11.910 The excuse for me to want to go back was to find my rifle. 354 00:20:12.611 --> 00:20:16.515 But I really wanted to go back just because it I felt like I had 355 00:20:17.683 --> 00:20:19.718 not completed that hunting trip. 356 00:20:20.252 --> 00:20:22.854 That was a lot of emotional healing for me and my father 357 00:20:24.122 --> 00:20:27.793 being back in the same spot for me, being able to recapture 358 00:20:27.793 --> 00:20:32.064 exactly where it was because my memories of that location weren't great. 359 00:20:32.664 --> 00:20:35.667 I got pretty emotional about going back to the spot 360 00:20:35.901 --> 00:20:38.971 and, you know, brought back unpleasant memories for. 361 00:20:38.971 --> 00:20:40.105 Sure. For me to be there. 362 00:20:40.105 --> 00:20:42.441 But at the same time, 363 00:20:42.441 --> 00:20:45.544 you know, I think it was good for Jake 364 00:20:45.544 --> 00:20:48.714 to see the spot, 365 00:20:48.714 --> 00:20:50.582 kind of to bring a closure to it, 366 00:20:50.582 --> 00:20:52.651 to say this is something that happened, 367 00:20:53.652 --> 00:20:56.488 the events past and I'm moving on with my life. 368 00:20:56.488 --> 00:20:58.223 Things are getting better. 369 00:20:58.223 --> 00:21:02.661 Jake Collins well knows he owes his life to his father. 370 00:21:03.362 --> 00:21:06.465 I think my reaction to my dad is 371 00:21:07.032 --> 00:21:14.406 gratitude. 372 00:21:14.406 --> 00:21:14.940 I think 373 00:21:20.145 --> 00:21:22.281 I'm I'm 374 00:21:22.581 --> 00:21:25.917 grateful to my dad that I'm here and grateful to my family, that 375 00:21:27.185 --> 00:21:29.588 for all the support that they gave me, for me to be 376 00:21:30.789 --> 00:21:33.358 for me to have the quality of life 377 00:21:33.358 --> 00:21:42.134 that I do now.