An avid rock climber in Montana who broke multiple bones after he was struck by a hulking boulder and plunged off a cliffside attributed his miraculous survival to a simple piece of safety equipment often disregarded by advanced adrenaline-seekers: a helmet.
Cody Boehm was scaling a climbing rock at Confluence Crag near Montana’s Custer Gallatin National Forest last Sunday when a microwave-sized boulder was accidentally knocked loose by a friend and barreled into him.
Boehm plummeted a steep 50 feet down to the ground, breaking his collarbone and seven of his 24 ribs on top of sustaining a collapsed lung. He was also left badly bloodied with a large laceration down his back where the rock sliced him after smacking him in the head.
The boulder would’ve easily caved his skull in, were it not for the helmet, according to the climber and his doctors.
“Your helmet will save your life no matter what. That’s what saved my life. It hit me in the head. If I didn’t have my helmet on, I wouldn’t be here today,” he told KTVQ.
Doctors at the Billings Clinic agreed that he could’ve suffered a “severe intracranial injury” that “would have been life-threatening” were it not for his helmet, as dingy as it may have been.
Boehm was still conscious when his heroic rescuers finally reached him and thought the entire coordination was “cool,” but noted that he was also incredibly relieved as they transported him to a nearby clinic for treatment.
The rescue mission was particularly difficult due to the area’s rugged terrain.
“The trail had a bunch of trees falling everywhere. So they had a tree crew out there, cut trees down in front of me. They had the Red Lodge fire rescue crew out there, search and rescue. I mean, they did amazing,” Boehm told the outlet.
The outdoorsman isn’t taking a single second for granted as he recovers. He still plans on climbing more in the future and will always wear a helmet, he said.
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