Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The fisherman who was trapped between two boulders in Little Cottonwood Canyon for 16 hours is sharing his story of survival today.
Dean Ririe, 52, is in satisfactory condition, but he is still in a lot of pain. Doctors are keeping a close eye on his foot, which was crushed underneath one of those boulders. He still could lose it. But he wanted to thank those who saved him. He said, "I'm lucky they found me."
Ririe is grateful to be surrounded by cameras today. Yesterday, he was being carefully lifted from the Little Cottonwood Creek after spending 16 hours in the icy water. "[I] had a fish on [my line], stepped over a rock, a big boulder, onto some small ones, which tipped and released," he says.
Ririe ended up pinned between two boulders; one crushing his foot the entire time. He yelled for help and thought about his family as the sky darkened. He says, "I was afraid to fall asleep. If I fell asleep, I might slip in and drown, that was the easy part of staying away."
He adds, "I mean, I know the area, and I knew how remote I was. I wasn't really close enough to the campground, with the roar of the water and such, that I was confident that people would hear me."
Monday morning, the help he'd been hoping for came. Alex Malin, 11, heard Ririe shouting and ran to his dad. Search and Rescue was called to get Ririe out and to the hospital. Nurse practitioner Jody Carter says, "He did have hypothermia when he arrived, his temperature was down 33 degrees."
"I just hope I don't lose my foot, feet, toes, because I love to fish," Ririe says. Doctors say Ririe's foot is touch and go, but he's extremely lucky to have even survived.
His wife, Tracy, had a chance to meet the 11-year-old and his father who finally saved him. She says, "I just told him ‘Thank you.' We were just really grateful." It's an introduction Dean is looking forward to.
Ririe's wife says he won't be fishing alone in the future. In fact, one of his daughters vows to go with him each and every time.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
