Alaska man survives being pinned face-down by 700-pound boulder in creek after help from his wife

An Alaska man survived being pinned face-down by a -pound boulder in a creek after his wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning officers say The harrowing affair involving Kell Morris happened last Saturday as he was hiking near Godwin Glacier outside of Seward on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison according to Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites The subject was identified lying in the creek on his stomach with an approximately lb boulder on top of him with his spouse holding his head out of water The individual was hypothermic and in and out of consciousness the Seward Fire Department reported Crews used air bags ropes and brute force to lift the boulder off the subject and pull him to safety Once out of the water the crew re-warmed the recipient and he became more alert and his vitals improved Morris who was trapped for about three hours later explained the Associated Press that I was very lucky and God was looking out for me HUMAN REMAINS DETERMINED IN SUNKEN BOAT BRING CLOSURE TO TEXAS FAMILY S ALASKA TRAGEDY His wife Jo Roop is a retired Alaska State Trooper They moved to Seward about miles south of Anchorage from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department The trail the couple was hiking on was a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier Morris advised the AP he noticed dangerous boulders -- selected weighing up to pounds -- along the banks of the creek and avoided them the best he could until he ran into an area he couldn t pass I was coming back and everything the whole side slid out from under me he declared Morris described how things became a blur as he tumbled down an embankment about feet landing face down in the water Then he without delay felt a boulder hit his back in what Crites described as basically an avalanche of boulders HIKER DIES AFTER HIKING ARIZONA MOUNTAINS IN EXTREME HEAT OTHERS RESCUED Morris recounted to the AP how he felt an intense pain in his left leg and waited for his femur to snap When it first happened I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome Morris declared His wife tried to free him for about minutes putting rocks under the boulder and trying to roll it off him before she left to find a cell signal to call She used her law enforcement experience to send exact GPS coordinates to dispatch The Seward Fire Department mentioned a volunteer at the nearby Bear Creek Fire Department who works for Seward Helicopter Tours then heard the call while working and he and a pilot volunteered to respond to the scene and pick up six firefighters via helicopter and passage them to the sufferer thus cutting down minutes of voyage time The subject was in a boulder field and the helicopter could only hover while firefighters had to jump from the helicopter to the ground as the helicopter could not land safely it mentioned The Seward Fire Department explained Morris was airlifted to a local hospital where he is now expected to make a full recovery but it is now doubt that without the help from the Seward Helicopter Tours this circumstance could have had a much different and potentially fatal outcome Firefighters who carried out the rescue used two air bags normally reserved to extract people from wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder It just became an all-hands brute force of one two three push Crites informed the AP And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out The Associated Press contributed to this analysis