A Streamlight Scorpion saved my life about 3 years ago. I was walking along a railroad track on a December evening looking for small trees that may have been cut down for maintenance. If it's fairly fresh and is of the right size, I use them for making walking sticks. I had covered a good part of the track and decided to return on the other side of the track. I could just make out the road that crossed the track that I walked in on. I was coming up on a bridge that crossed an icy cold stream filled with huge boulders. As I began crossing I still had my attention focused ahead and failed to see the hole where a piece of plate was missing.
I fell 18' and landed on a huge boulder and then fell off the side into the stream. The impact was horrendous and I knew immediately that I was hurt pretty bad. I tried to get up and the pain was indescribable. Just getting onto all fours was extremely painful.
Once the denial wore off and reality set in, I knew that I needed help or I would more than likely either drown or die from hypothermia. The temperature was around 40 degrees and falling fast. The stream was not very high, but if I passed out I knew it was deep enough to drown me. I tried to drag my self with my elbows to a larger section of rocks. That's when I noticed that I had a bad laceration on my elbow. I really needed to stay calm and not let the situation overwhelm me.
I attempted yelling for help until I was completely exhausted. The trauma,pain and cold were quickly taking a toll. It was a pretty dark moment when I realized that nobody could here me. Again I attempted to calm down and think clearly. I searched my pockets and found that I'd taken along my Streamlight Scorpion flashlight. It's waterproof and it survived the shock of the fall. I looked around and I really couldn't see much because the banks of the stream were very steep. I did see part of a building and I
was able to focus a strong beam of light on it. I began using a series of 3 taps hoping that someone would notice it. About 15 minutes later, two women were standing at the top of the bank. They worked the nightshift at the warehouse that I was shining my light on. They said that they'd seen the flashing of my flashlight asked if I needed an ambulance. I told them I needed one ASAP.
A couple of township police were the first to show up and I realized that I'd been in the water for over an hour. They asked if I'd been drinking and if I had jumped. I answered no to both and said, "Please just get me out of here". They thought it may be better for rescue if I was near the bank on the far side of the stream. One scooped his arms under shoulders while the other grabbed my legs. This caused enormous pain and I let out a blood curdling scream. They then decided that it was best to wait for the rescue
to arrive. It was only several minutes later when the rescue and ambulance arrived. The medic wrapped me with a warm blanket while the rescue team accessed the situation. A flat board was lowered and when they rolled me onto it, I though I was going to die. They had me strapped in really well and tried pulling me up the steep slope. They soon realized that they could never get me out of there with all of the thick brush on the bank. They got out a chain saw and cleared a path. They made very slow buy steady progress up to the waiting ambulance. The ride to the hospital was pretty much a blur. I estimate that I spent a total of 2 hours from the time I fell until I was on the way to the hospital.
The X-rays showed that I had fractured my pelvis in 5 places and had cracked my sacrum. My elbow required 8 stitches and my body was banged up in a lot of places. I was in the hospital for 6 days and when I came home I slept in a recliner for 2 months.
I had to use a walker and then a cane. I had a regiment of physical therapy and it was awhile before I could stand up or walk without considerable pain. The orthopedic surgeon that I saw told that I heal remarkably fast. I was glad that I was able to finally walk without all that pain. It still hurts every now and then. I'll take that any day. It could have been much worse.
There are a lot of posts about pocket survival kits. I have recently purchased several very compact but bright lights just for that purpose. If I hadn't taken my Scorpion with me, I honestly think that I would not have survived.
