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EMERY COUNTY — A 24-year-old woman has been rescued after spending nearly 12 hours stuck in a narrow canyon in the San Rafael Desert, according to the Emery County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman, who is from Salt Lake County, became stuck in Zero Gravity Canyon Wednesday afternoon, and rescuers were not able to free her until 2 a.m. Thursday, officials said.
She was transported to a trauma center and was in an intensive care unit as of Thursday evening.
The woman’s husband called Emery County dispatch around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after he had already been trying to free his wife from the canyon for about two hours.
An Emery County Search and Rescue rope team was dispatched to the scene, as well as one helicopter from the state Department of Public Safety and one from Classic Air in Vernal.
Rescuers at the scene said the woman was extremely distraught, in pain and having difficulty breathing, according to police.
Rescuers rigged various rope systems to try to pull the woman out. They also poured a gallon of dish soap on the woman, a technique that had been used during a previous rescue, police said.
One of the rescuers was on a rope in the canyon for almost seven hours.
The Emery County Sheriff’s Office said this is the second rescue of the summer in Zero Gravity Canyon, and the first was within several feet of the location of this rescue.
