Man thanks 911 call taker who remained on the line after he fell from rock

A Denver-area man is giving thanks to a Jeffcom 911 call taker who stayed on the line with him for nearly two hours after he fell from a rock in the mountains. 

It was a good day for a hike near Evergreen last month until things went terribly wrong. A recording of the call started this way: "Jeffcom 911, what is the address of your emergency?" The injured caller responded, "I just fell off a rock and broke my leg."

27-year-old Patrick Weinand of Lakewood was calling for help from Bergen Peak. On the other end, Natalie Barrett was answering 911 calls at the Jeffcom Center in Lakewood. 

"This is probably the worst day of their life, and how can I just make that a little better?" Barrett reflected.

Bleeding badly from the fall, Weinand, his brother, and a friend applied two tourniquets. 

On the call, Barrett asked, "you said 'you have a tourniquet on'; is the bone sticking through the leg?" The reply from Weinand was, "yes, it is."

But there was still blood flowing. Barrett, who has emergency medical training, asked Weinand if there was any way to make a third tourniquet. 

"They told me that they didn't have any other medical equipment available, so we just took the belt off," she told CBS News Colorado in an interview. 

On the 911 call recording, Barrett tells the injured hiker, "I know it's not going to feel good; it's going to hurt like hell." Weinand responded, "that's fine, that's fine; I just want to live."

He asked that help arrive quickly, mentioning he might die. 

"I was concerned; my leg was hurting a lot, my bone was sticking out of it, and I definitely think I could've lost a lot more blood," Weinand said, speaking from his home later. 

Evergreen Fire and a helicopter were dispatched for the rescue while Barrett was trying to keep the fall victim calm. 

"Ok, you'll be fine. I will stay on the line with you," she said. 

For some two hours, Barrett remained on the line with the fall victim until she heard Patrick, the injured man, greet his rescuers. 

"Thank you guys, thanks for making it up here," he is heard saying on the 911 recording. 

Weinand is now recovering after being treated for two broken bones in his leg. Before disconnecting the line.

"Thank you so much, Natalie; I appreciate it," Weinand was heard saying. "Yeah, good luck with everything," Barrett responded. 

This all happened as 911 call centers nationwide need to hire more help and are pushing to be recognized as first responders.