Dog helped save triathlete from death
Posted by planetultramarathon on December 21, 2006
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/179007,CST-NWS-miss20.article)December 20, 2006
BY BRIAN METZLER
A prominent Colorado adventure athlete can thank her dog and a rescue
team for saving her life after she fell and injured herself while
running and spent two nights in freezing weather.
Danelle Ballengee, 35, underwent surgery Tuesday at Denver Health
Medical Center to repair a broken pelvis suffered while running with
her dog last week near the Amasa Back Trail south of Moab, Utah.
She also is recovering from severe frostbite on her feet, internal
bleeding and numerous cuts and bruises.
The two-time adventure racing world champion and triathlete, trail
runner and mountain biker slipped on a patch of ice and tumbled off
three successive rock faces of 10 to 20 feet each.
‘Just happy to be alive’
A Grand County (Utah) rescue team found Ballengee two days later after
her dog, Taz, a 3-year-old German shepherd-golden retriever mix, led
rescuers on a five-mile journey.
”I’m just happy to be alive,” she said. ”I thought about my family
and my friends and everything I do, and I just kept saying to myself,
‘I can’t die. I’m not ready to die.’ But it would have been so easy to
relax and curl up and die.”
Ballengee left for what she thought would be a casual trail run in the
40-degree weather. She was wearing light running pants, two lightweight
shirts and a fleece top.
After the fall, Ballengee crawled on her hands and knees to try to
find help. During the night, she did sit-ups and kept her upper body
moving to keep warm. She drank from a puddle and ate two packets of
raspberry energy gel.
On the first night of Ballengee’s ordeal, Taz slept with his head on
her stomach, but the second night he was hesitant to get near her.
”The first night I couldn’t really cuddle with him because I had to
stay on my back, but he cuddled next to me and helped keep me warm,”
Ballengee said. ”But the second night he either got mad or he got a
plan in his head. Either way, I just can’t wait to give him a big
hug.”
Scripps Howard News Service
