Close call in Canada: Hiking, yoga helped senior survive

Alice Hutchison, 73, of Whitefish, credits yoga and hiking for giving her the physical fitness that helped rescuers save her life recently.

“The message is stay in shape,” she said.

Her misadventure started as a hike on Aug. 28 with a friend in Canada on the Sibbald Creek Trail in Kananakis Country near Calgary. Hutchison said she was walking in a very “rooty” area on the trail.

“I got careless,” she said. “I turned to talk to my friend and I went flying.”

When her flight ended, Hutchison suffered a complicated fracture of the upper tibia and knee. She was in tremendous pain and stranded in an area with no cell phone service.

But at just the right moment, a male member of the Argentina Special Forces and two muscular women appeared on the trail and came to the rescue.

“They were just like oxen,” Hutchison said. “They carried me for two solid hours.”

She said it was only through her yoga training and physical fitness that she was able to endure the pain. Hutchison teaches yoga at The Wave in Whitefish.

Slowly and painstakingly, the hikers lifted and carried her a few feet at a time. She could only endure the pain of movement for short periods.

“It was well over a mile,” she said. “It was agonizing.”

Eventually, Hutchison was treated at Foothills Hospital in Calgary. Her story made it into the Calgary Herald as told by her rescuers Jose Abdala, Michelle Danielson and Stacey Stannard.

According to the article, Abdala, 32, and Danielson, 41, carried Hutchison on their shoulders. Stannard, 38, provided her with electrolytes, water and encouragement during the ordeal.

 Because she kept fainting, they stopped often. They told the newspaper reporter that Hutchison was in awesome shape for her age. Hutchison told them that she had hiked in Argentina, Abdala’s home.

“She was a tough, tough, tough lady,” Danielson told the Calgary Herald reporter.

They got her to the hospital at 5 p.m. but never heard how she fared after that. They wished her well.

“For a gal in so much pain we had some great moments out there,” Stannard said. “I hope she is faring well.”

Hutchison got patched up at the hospital then her daughter arrived to bring her home to Whitefish. She left town later to live with her daughter until she regains her mobility.

A moment’s inattention derailed her plans to keep teaching the over-50s yoga class at The Wave in upcoming months.

“My whole fall just changed,” she sai.

She wanted to share her story with other seniors as encouragement to keep in  good shape. It pays off even if you get injured.

“You just have to push, push, push,” Hutchison said. “That’s my message when I teach.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com