***Warning....this is a VERY long post. It took me hours to type it but it probably won't take so long to actually read it. I was very emotional so it took me a while to get through it all. I've also been told by a few people that this made them cry and I should post a disclaimer.....so proceed at your own risk!***
Saturday, July 10th we woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned up and got ready. My grandpa wanted to start fishing and we must have been taking too long because he decided to go to Deep Lake without us and then we would meet up with him later. We were only about 30 minutes behind and left the trailer around 11:30 a.m. My dad took all 3 girls with him on his 4 wheeler and I rode on the back with my mom. Deep Lake was probably about 30 minutes away from where we were camping. It was a nice day and we all enjoyed the ride and the scenery.
When we got to the lake we were surprised that Grandpa wasn't there. A family was just leaving and they said they had been there all morning and hadn't seen him. We figured he must have missed the turn to the lake so we back tracked a little and then continued on the trail we had originally been on. A little past Deep Lake there is another lake we thought he may have gone to on accident. When we got there there was still no sign of him. We were trying to decide what to do when I saw him driving on the trail so I had to run and flag him down. He laughed a little and said he had missed the turnoff and was almost at the end of the trail when he realized he must have missed it and turned around to come back.
We finally made it back to our original destination around 12:30 p.m. and got settled in to enjoy some fishing. My girls were tagging along with my dad and grandpa and I headed in the opposite direction to settle under a tree and read a book. As I was sitting there and watching what everyone else was doing I thought about how I didn't have very many pictures of grandpa so I decided to take a couple while he was walking on the trail to where he was going to fish and then once he had started. He caught a fish on his very fist cast and the girls were so excited. Unfortunately it got away. He stayed in that spot for about an hour or so and caught about 7 or 8 fish. We forgot a net and all but 3 got away. My grandpa enjoys napping and after a while he decided he wanted to have a little rest so he found a nice shady spot, put his hat over his eyes and slept while the rest of us continued fishing. I wasn't able to read much as I ended up helping the girls with their poles and nobody else caught anything.
Around 5:30 p.m. we were getting a little hungry so my mom passed out some Hostess Cupcakes when we noticed the sky was getting dark in the distance and it looked like it was going to rain. Rather than go to the trailer the way we had come, my dad wanted us to go the way my grandpa had gone when he was lost. Because grandpa had already been to the end of the trail once he knew that at the end it was very steep and bumpy. He was very concerned that it would be too dangerous with the girls riding on the back and wanted to tie them on so they wouldn't fall off. My dad didn't think it would be a problem but said that when we got to that point we would have them get off and walk up the trail. My grandpa felt much better after that and we started on our way. There were two reasons my dad wanted to go this way. One, he said distance wise it was closer (I personally don't think it really was and I'll get into that later) and two, he thought it was a fun trail because little bridges went over some ponds and creeks and the view was really pretty. He was right that it was a fun trail but I was worried about us not making it back to the trailer before it started to rain on us because it was already sprinkling (if you've ever been caught in a rain storm on a 4 wheeler you know it's not that fun). I kept thinking that it was taking forever to get back to the main road (Skyline) when my dad finally stopped and made the girls get off because we were at the end of the trail.
There was some mumbling and complaining from them so I decided I'd better get off and walk with them. It was a good thing because I had to help Brooklen a few times. The first hill had a gradual bend to it and then leveled off a little followed by another steep, rocky incline that wasn't very long. We were almost to the top of the first hill when my dad came up follwed by my mom about 30 seconds later. We all waited there for maybe a minute or so when my dad decided it would be okay for the girls to get back on and he rode the rest of the way to the top. My mom and I were wondering where grandpa was but figured that because he is a cautious person and he couldn't see to the top that he probably wanted to make sure everyone was out of the way before he attempted to head up. I jumped on the back of her bike and we also rode the rest of the way. Because I had started walking up the hill with the girls I didn't hear this but before my mom started up the hill she turned around and asked, "Are you nervous?" and my grandpa said, "Not a bit." (yeah, I'm crying now as I'm typing this....)
When we got to the very top of the trail head we were in a open grassy area. The girls got off the bikes and started walking around while my dad, mom and I waited for my grandpa. From the time we started up the hill to this point was maybe 5 minutes or so. We kept wondering where he was and my dad said, I'm going to see what's taking him so long. My mom said that she thought she heard his bike so he waited about a minute longer when he decided that he needed to go down. I think deep down I knew something was wrong, and my mom's eyes looked panicy (I'm sure that's not a word but I don't know how else to describe them). A few minutes after my dad had left we heard three gunshots....BANG, BANG, BANG.....in quick succession. I knew right then that there had been an accident. I honestly think my mom went into shock right then because my mom looked at me and said, "why are they target shooting?" I said, "Mom, that wasn't target shooting." We were standing at the top of the trail looking down and she was pacing and said it again. I asked her if she wanted me to walk down but she said no and about 30 seconds to a minute later my dad came back up.
I knew something was wrong because my dad was in what I would describe as "calm mode". I could see he was trying to stay together for my mom's sake. He got off the bike and put is hands on my moms shoulders and looked her in the eyes and said, "There's been an accident. He rolled his bike. He's conscious. He's not bleeding. He says his back hurts. You need to go be with him while we get help." My mom rolled her eyes and sighed all at once. We were worried about him going into shock so my mom grabbed a purple towel from the back of the 4 wheeler that the girls had been sitting on to soften their ride and started down the trail. At this point my dad turned to me and we started talking about how we were going to get a hold of 911. At first he was thinking he would have to drive quite a ways to one spot on the mountain they had discovered where their phones worked (this is how they had called me to let me know which camping spot they were at). But then because we were out in an open area he realized he should check his phone first before he drove somewhere when he didn't need to. He flipped open his phone and it said, "Emergency Mode" or something like that. He called 911 and amazingly he got through immediately but it was a bad connection. He was having to yell-talk to explain where we were and what had happened. He even stood on top of his 4 wheeler to try and help the connection. He asked them if they could send a helicopter and the dispatcher said they would get everyone they could to help us. After he got off the phone we were trying to decide if we should call my grandma or not. I said that I would want to know but also that there was nothing that she could do. We honestly were a good hour and a half from Gunnison and we knew it was going to take hours and hours by the time we would be able to get him to the hospital. So, we decided to wait and call her when we knew what the plan was and how long it would take to get him to the hospital.
While all of this was going on it was obvious to the girls that something was very wrong and they were extremely upset when I told grandpa had rolled his 4 wheeler and were crying. At this point my dad and I had to decide what to do with them. We figured it would be dark before we were headed to the hospital and even though we had some water bottles and coats we certainly weren't prepared for them to be outside for hours, especially if started raining. My dad told me that he thought grandpa had broken his back and that he was talking. In fact, he had told my dad where his CB radio was (but it didn't work, my dad thinks it was damaged when the bike rolled) and was trying to get his cell phone out of his pocket and he was the one who said he need "medivac." Based on what little we knew at that time, we decided he would go back down with my mom and I would take the girls back to the trailer, so they were safe and out of the way, and then I would come back and wait for rescue personnel and guide them to my grandpa. I jumped on my mom's 4 wheeler with Brooklen in front of me and Jordyn & Maegan on back.
I didn't realize at the time how far away we were from the trailer. I thought our trailer was only 2 or 3 miles away however, as I was driving I realized that really had no clue where I was because I hadn't been that far south before (the northern areas around Ferron Reservoir wouldn't have been a problem). At one point I came around a bend and there was a fork in the road. I was debating about turning around because all we needed was for me to get lost with the girls in the middle of this drama but I then decided to take the right fork and figured I could always turn around if I needed to. But then I decided what I really needed to do was pray. I stopped the 4 wheeler and told the girls I needed to say a quick prayer and I just asked Heavenly Father to confirm to me if I was on the right trail. After a few moments I felt like I was headed in the right direction and continued on. A few minutes later a dirt bike came over a hill in front of me and I flagged them down. Unfortunately it was a young boy and I was asking him if his parents were around when a 4 wheeler and truck came up behind him. On the 4 wheeler was a lady (maybe around my age) and I asked her if I was on the right road to get back to 12 Mile Flat but she didn't know and told me to ask the guy driving the truck. When I drove up to ask him he must have been able to tell something was wrong and asked what was going on. I explained that my grandpa had rolled his 4 wheeler at the head of trail 29 and that I was taking the girls back to the trailer and just needed know if I was on the right road. He told me I was and asked if anyone was with grandpa. I told him about my mom and dad and that we had gotten a hold of 911 already. He then asked me if trail 29 was the one that was rocky and steep and I said yes and I got the impression that he was going to go there and see if he could help.
I continued on my way and finally got to the trailer (which turned out to be more like 7 miles away). I told the girls to stay inside and play and eat when they got hungry and that if we weren't back before dark to snuggle up in their blankets on the couches and go to sleep. I was really worried about my grandpa going into shock so I filled up a bunch of water bottles and grabbed some rain ponchos and some thermal blankets I had in the trunk of my car and headed back.
It took me about 35 minutes from the time I left to drop of the girls to get back. When I got there there were a lot of people around. The truck I had stopped plus a few more 4 wheelers. As I pulled in I saw my dad talking to someone and I heard him say, "that's my daughter" and he started walking over to me and I knew that grandpa had died. I said, "Did he die?" I don't remember his exact answer because I started to cry. He just hugged me for a little while and then the girl that had been on the 4 wheeler I stopped came over to me and hugged for a little bit while I cried some more. At that point I got off the 4 wheeler when I realized that they had already brought his body up and he was laying in the grass and they had put the purple towel my mom had taken with her over him. I honestly felt like I needed to throw up but it was all stuck in my throat. Not that anyone was being disrespectful but I was bothered by the fact that he was on the ground and not on something, a blanket or another towel or something but the ground. It also bothered me to see him in the same clothes he was wearing while we had been fishing and having fun. I have no idea how to put into words how I felt other than it was awful.
My dad was trying to tell me to be strong for my mom right when she drove up on a 4 wheeler (I can't even describe the look on her face, it will haunt me forever) and when she got off she said, "Where is he?" My dad led her over to him and she got on her knees, pulled back the towel and hugged him and just kept saying over and over, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" while she was crying. It was so horrible to watch. At one point my dad looked at me and said, "This is a nightmare Melissa. This wasn't supposed to happen." Everyone that was there kind of stood back while we hugged and cried and gave us some time to grieve. My mom started going through all of his pockets saying she didn't want anyone to take anything. My dad was trying to be supportive but was trying to get her to understand that nobody was going to hurt him or us and do something like that.
Some time during all of this the man in the truck that I had stopped came over to us and said, "Let me tell you what's going to happen." I think he could tell we were at a complete loss of what to do so he wanted to help put my mom at ease. Apparently, this guy had been on Sanpete County's Search and Rescue for 6 years and had only recently (like only a couple of months) retired from it. He said that as soon as my dad had called 911 they had dispatched a helicopter from Provo which was sent in the general direction of where we were. However, it takes the ground crew getting there first so they can give the exact GPS coordinates to land it. When he had arrived he actually got those coordinates to the dispatchers so the helicopter was really close but they turned it back because grandpa was already deceased and the ground crew was only a few minutes away. Right around when he was saying this we saw the first rescue truck come around the corner.
I was amazed by how many people responded. An officer from the US Forest Service, the Division of Natural Resources, Sanpete County Sheriff officers, EMT's and I can't remember who else. The officer from the forest service was in charge of the investigation and one of the men who had helped my mom and dad while I was taking back the girls actually walked him down to where it happened because we were trying to figure out how to notify my grandma. This is another reason I never want to be a part of an accident like this. I think everyone knows what it's like to receive that phone call when someone you know or loved has died. Having to be the one to decide how that happens terrible. Again, I don't know how else to really describe it but in my mind it was like a ripple effect of how everyone in my family was going to be told. We were thinking about my cousin Joe because it was his birthday and felt bad that he was going to get this news. I felt sick about my grandma finding out, and then my aunts and then my cousins and I was thinking about how they were all going to be told that grandpa died while 4 wheeling with Ed, Patti, Melissa and the girls and how they were going to react and I hated that we were a part of it. Does that make any sense? Anyway, the sheriff deputies kept saying they could have a deputy from Utah County notify her but we knew that would was not the best way. It just seemed so cold to have a stranger have to tell her. What we decided was that because my Aunt Jennifer was closest to her and one of the "stronger" sisters my mom would call her when she got to the spot on the mountain from where she could call.
After the "investigation" was over and the medical examiner had said the EMT's could move him they covered him with a white sheet and put him on a back board. We were all crying and my mom was holding my hand. Because of where we were the ambulance wasn't able to come to our location so they actually had to put him in the back of the enclosed search and rescue trailer. My mom rode with the sheriff deputy driving the truck and when they got to the top of the mountain they would move him to the ambulance. My dad and I were going back to camp to get it locked up and would then meet her at the hospital. We said good bye to everyone that had helped and then left. I rode my mom's 4 wheeler and a deputy rode my grandpa's (the only damage to the bike was the left handle bar was bent and the mirror and some of the plastic was broken on that side).
As we pulled back into camp I could see the girls looking out the window. I unlocked the trailer, walked in and closed the door dreading having to tell them. I gathered them on the couch and knelt down and said that grandpa had died. Jordyn gasped and Maegan said, "He died?" in a really high pitched, sad voice and they all burst into tears. I just hugged them for a little while and told them that we needed to get packed up and go to the hospital. My dad told me to go ahead and go and he would get everything locked up and then meet us there. As we drove down the mountain we actually ended up behind the ambulance and sheriff's truck because they had to drive so slow. It was a very long drive. The girls would calm down and then start crying again.
When we got to Gunnison Valley Hospital it was about 9:30 p.m. We hadn't eaten anything substantial since breakfast that morning and they were so kind and pulled the girls into a room and gave them cookies and milk and little purses that had books and stuffed animals and things in them. I was covered in dirt from riding on the dirt road so many times and so sunburned so I was able to try and get cleaned up. While my mom had been with the deputies she had gotten a hold of her sister Jennifer who in turn called another sister, Theo, who with their husband's Tony and Terry respectively, told my Grandma. Obviously my grandma was in shock and they hadn't left Woodland Hills yet because they didn't know what they were supposed to do. Terry finally asked to talk to me because he said my mom wasn't making any sense. It was finally determined that the mortician from Spanish Fork would indeed drive to the hospital that night to retrieve my grandpas body and my grandma could go to the mortuary so she decided not to drive all the way to Gunnison that night. During this we discovered that my grandpa wanted to be cremated. I was really upset at first and honestly I've never known anyone who has been cremated so I didn't know how viewings and all of that worked. The hospital staff said we could go in and see him and the girls really wanted to so we walked in and as soon as we got past the curtain they stopped and didn't want to go any further. My mom was starting to worry because it was about 10:15 and my dad still wasn't there. I was with my mom in the room with my grandpa when he finally walked in.
I actually left the room because that was my dad's breaking point. When he saw her he hugged her and just started sobbing. I figured they would want some time alone. After a few minutes he had calmed down and we were talking about what needed to be done with camp and the mortician etc. My dad and I had assumed she would want to go home and we'd have to go back on the mountain to get everything later (which is what took my dad so long because he was cleaning everything up) but my mom kept saying she had to go back and couldn't leave his stuff up there. So, at about 10:30 we decided that because of the girls I would drive home. They were going to wait for the mortician and then go back on the mountain. As we were getting ready to leave my girls were upset and wanted to try and see him again. I explained that he wouldn't look the same as he had earlier in the day but they insisted that they wanted to so we walked in the room again and this time they were able to walk right up to the bed. Maegan asked why he was so white and the nurse explained that it was because his heart wasn't pumping his blood anymore. My mom told the girls that they could give him a kiss goodbye if they wanted to and my dad was taken aback and his eyes got really big and he shook his head no but the girls really had the same reaction and didn't want to. I gave him a kiss on his forehead and Jordyn and Maegan kissed their fingers and touched his face but Brooklen didn't want to. We said good-bye and thanked the hospital staff again and started to long drive home.
My grandma called me while I was driving and wanted to know if he had been wearing his helmet because she thought he always wore it. When I told her no she was so upset and couldn't believe it. I was in between Gunnison and Nephi and was going to loose coverage so she told me to be careful and she would talk to me the next day. Because it was late on a Saturday night when I left Gunnison NOTHING was open so when I pulled into the south end of Nephi I stopped at Burger King for some food. We were famished. The girls all told me what they wanted and I am not kidding, the amount of time it took for Brooke to tell me what she wanted to eat to getting it and handing it to her she had fallen asleep. I felt so bad that she didn't eat any dinner but it honestly couldn't have been helped. We got home and I had to take a shower because I really was covered in dust and then sank into bed absolutely exhausted.
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