A 79-year-old Washington woman faced a five-hour wait for rescue after breaking her ankle while hiking to the spot where her mother’s ashes were scattered. Luckily, some strangers lent her a helping hand.
Ursula Bannister, of Tacoma, was climbing on the High Rock trail near Ashford on Aug. 28 when she broke and dislocated her ankle mid-hike, according to a news release from the U.S. Air Force.
Bannister, who says she’s an experienced hiker, tries to visit the area about once a year and bring flowers to the spot where her mother’s ashes were spread, according to NBC Boston and The Washington Post.
This time, on her way down, she stepped in a hole and injured herself. “By the time I sat up, my foot was pointing the wrong way. I knew right away I had broken my leg,” she told the Post. “I tried to get up with my hiking pole and it collapsed on me.”
Ursula Bannister at home on Sept. 12, 2024.
U.S. Air Force courtesy photo
A stranger later approached and helped Bannister call 911. But according to the Post, Bannister learned it could take rescue crews up to five hours to reach her.
A short time later, two men showed up. One of them was U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Troy May, who is currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, according to the department. May and his friend, Layton Allen, helped “carry Bannister 1.6 miles down the steep trail,” a journey that, according to the Post, took about three hours to complete.
“I was like if I could carry her out … it’d be a lot quicker for her and get her out of a little bit of pain,” May told NBC Boston.
Bannister told the Post she felt the men “were behaving like angels coming from the sky,” adding, “I was just thankful that these guys were willing to do this.”
To keep Bannister’s mind off of her painful injury, May and Allen got to know more about her life, according to the Post. “She had a bunch of cool stories,” May explained. “We were trying to keep her talking to make the hike go faster … we really had quite the team.”
After reaching the parking lot, May and Allen helped Bannister into a car and drove her to a hospital, according to the Air Force. Bannister ultimately broke her leg in three places and now has a plate and at least 10 screws in her leg to help it heal, per NBC Boston.
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Troy May on Sept. 13, 2024.
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Benjamin Riddle
On Sept. 9, May received an Air Force Achievement Medal for assisting in the rescue, according to the Post. Speaking with NBC Boston, May said, “I just happened to be at the right time to do it that day.”
Meanwhile, Bannister told the Post she believes “we’ll be friends for a really long time.”
