Twin Cities Woman Recounts Grand Canyon Nightmare
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities woman's dream vacation to the Grand Canyon turned into a nightmare after she fell 20 feet, breaking 13 bones.
Sheila McCabe just got out of the hospital and is now recovering at home in Savage. She wants to share what happened and what she learned.
"The pain was excruciating," McCabe said. "I had just said to everyone, 'Be careful, it's slippery here.' I would never have thought in a million years I would have slipped. And I did, right then, I fell backward."
McCabe hit the ground 20 feet beneath the cliff, landing on her left side, just inches away from a boulder.
"I think I might have hit my head along the way. But just straight down like a rag doll," she said.
McCabe was with two close friends, her 20-year-old son and his girlfriend. They were on their third day of hiking and camping at the Grand Canyon.
After the fall, her son and his girlfriend ran to find help.
"They took off, they saved my life. Four hours later, the helicopter came. I couldn't believe it. I didn't think I was going to survive it," she said.
McCabe was rescued from a remote area where there is no cell phone service. She waited in pain with broken bones in her left arm, left leg and rib cage. Other hikers on the trail stopped to give her their clothes to stay warm, and water to stay hydrated.
"They stayed with me for hours. Different sets of people, I don't even know who they were or what they really look like, just groups of people," McCabe said. "They would pray, put their hands on me, hold me because I was convulsing."
She is filled with gratitude, and says she feels blessed to be alive.
"I just want to say that there are so many good people out there in the world, and I believe that all came together and that's why I'm here today," she said.
McCabe says the timing of the accident is interesting. It happened last Friday, just days after her 25th wedding anniversary, and a couple weeks before the 25th anniversary of the restaurant she and her husband own in Edina -- Q. Cumber.
The ordeal has made her much more thankful for the people in her life. Her doctors expect a full recovery. She is having surgery on her wrist and arm next week.