A man in Alaska was rescued after being pinned under a 700-pound rock in a freezing glacier stream, surviving three harrowing hours in the water before emergency crews lifted him to safety.
Kell Morris had been hiking with his wife near Godwin Glacier, just outside Anchorage, when a rockslide sent him tumbling into a frigid creek. As he fell, a massive boulder landed on his leg, trapping him face-down in the stream. The rock, weighing around 318 kilograms, held him in place while freezing water rushed around him.
With the icy water rising by the minute, his wife, Jo Roop, quickly positioned his head out of the stream to prevent him from drowning. She then climbed to higher ground in search of mobile service and contacted rescue teams, relaying their exact location using GPS coordinates.
Despite the freezing temperatures and being submerged for hours, Morris was found conscious—though weak—by a helicopter rescue team that had to leap onto the uneven terrain from a hovering aircraft, as there was no safe place to land. Firefighters used inflatable lifting bags to raise the massive stone and free him from underneath it.
The rescue was made even more urgent by the fact that the glacier-fed creek was rising rapidly due to afternoon melt, further increasing the risk of drowning or hypothermia. By the time help arrived, the water had reached Morris’s chin, and he was slipping in and out of consciousness.
Morris later described how he had tried to stay alert and fight off the cold. His wife, a police officer, kept calm and even joked during the ordeal, telling him not to go anywhere as she went to find help.
Luck also played a role in the rescue. A volunteer firefighter who overheard the emergency call while working for a sled dog tour company helped coordinate a tourist helicopter to fly rescuers to the site quickly.
Morris was flown by the National Guard to a nearby hospital and treated for hypothermia. Incredibly, he walked away with only minor injuries—mostly bruises—and a remarkable story of survival.
Now back on his feet, he says he’s feeling good enough to hit the dance floor.