BILLINGS — A routine climbing trip with friends turned into an emergency rescue when Cody Boehm was struck by a microwave-sized boulder that broke multiple bones and left him wondering how he would get help.
"I definitely knew my right side was broke," Boehm said recently while recovering at Billings Clinic. "I was feeling like I wasn't going to make it. There was a point there where I was like, this is bad."
Watch Boehm share his story here:
Boehm was on the ground, while his friend was climbing above about 50 feet up. His friend went to step on a ledge and dislodged the large rock, which then struck Boehm in the head before crashing into his body, breaking his collarbone and seven ribs while leaving a large laceration across his back.
The accident happened Sunday afternoon at the Confluence Crag near the Lions Camp on the Lake Fork of Rock Creek near Red Lodge. The area complicated rescue efforts. One of his friends stayed with him to keep him awake and apply pressure to his wounds, while the other went to call for help.
"Where I was, kind of steep, lots of rock, really terrible terrain," Boehm explained.
Multiple agencies coordinated the complex rescue operation. Red Lodge Fire Rescue, search and rescue teams, and the Custer Gallatin National Forest Beartooth Ranger District worked together to extract Boehm from the forest, with sawyers clearing fallen timber blocking the evacuation route.
"The trail had a bunch of trees falling everywhere. So they had a tree crew out there, cut trees down in front of me," Boehm said. "They had the Red Lodge fire rescue crew out there, search and rescue. I mean, they did amazing."
Boehm remembers the sense of relief he felt when he saw the rescue crew.
"I just seeing a crew, like a massive crew just coming up. It was just cool," he said.
Dr. Gordon Riha, a trauma surgeon at Billings Clinic where Boehm was treated, said the injuries were severe. Boehm also had a collapsed right lung that wasn't inflating properly, along with multiple fractures on his right side and the significant back laceration.
"He was significantly injured," Riha said. "Personnel who were involved in Cody's care deserve significant praise and a lot of kudos. They went above and beyond with their extraction from a very difficult location, and then they provided lifesaving care on the way to the hospital."
Both Boehm and Riha emphasized that his climbing helmet prevented what could have been a fatal head injury.
"We see all kinds of outdoor-related injuries on almost a daily basis, whether that be bicycling or skiing or snowboarding, or in this case, rock climbing," Riha said. "If that would have hit his head and glanced off of his head, if he wasn't wearing a helmet, he would have had significant and severe intracranial injury, which likely would have been life-threatening."
Boehm, now recovering from his injuries, has a simple message for other climbers.
"Your helmet will save your life no matter what," He said. "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."
Boehm is looking forward to getting back to climbing again, and Riha said he is recovering remarkably.
