Virginia Pines: Thankful Thursday (or Friday)

So my bestie, Tori has been doing this and I thought I would give it a shot.

A few weeks ago, on Sept 21, I saw my life flash before me. This is no joke but I wish it was. Even writing about it now makes me emotional but I think it's probably healthy to get it out.

As you all know, the husband and I truly enjoy rock climbing. We know it's dangerous (I might be more aware of it then Pula but who's counting) but it's also awesome! Nothing is better then being 200 feet off the ground with a harness, rope and the best views.

We were climbing a really cool route, or so we thought. We were on our second pitch, meaning we were already 70 feet off the ground and were bolted to the vertical rock wall (all 3 of us which is normal; Kevin Seth and I). Kevin went ahead and lead the next pitch while Seth belayed and I leaned awkwardly on the wall, talking to Seth and taking pictures, occasionally looking at Kevin. Thank God it was only occassional.

There was an run out so he started placing his trad gear (Click here to learn more). He was resting his foot on a large ledge, taking a break and all the sudden, the ledge broke. His placed piece of gear (which wasn't the correct size to begin with. lesson learned there) snapped out and he went tumbling. This whole time I didn't see it, only heard it. I turned to see him hitting the wall from below us. He had fallen nearly 60 feet and tumbled.

I am pretty sure I went into shock. If the tables were turned and we had been doing this from the ground, he would have hit the ground. He was badly injured as it was. And when I say badly, I mean Kev was actually in pain. For me, that was serious because he is very active and get hurts a lot but he always blows it off. Not this time. His hand had some deep burns in it from trying to save himself and grab ahold of the rope, as he was falling. His shirt was totally ripped and his poor back, bloody. the worst injury was his ankle which nearly made him vomit, it hurt so bad. He couldn't walk on it and had to lean on Seth the whole hike back (Thankful this was a very short, easy accent to the rock).

Thank you God for not letting him injure his head. There wouldn't have been I could do. Oh so horrible. I realize later that if something worse had happened, I wouldn't have been able to get there soon enough to help him. I was tied to the wall and I couldn't just untie myself or I would have fallen to the ground. This trip really made us shaky.

His injuries are slowly healing but I am so THANKFUL my husband is still alive. WE have climbing helmets and will start wearing this on these types of routes. Too dangerous not to.

Even two weeks later it still makes my eyes water. I literally thought about all the possibilities from that fall and I will forever be grateful that my husband is still by my side. I love him so much. Life without him just wouldn't be worth it. He is such a standup guy and I am so fond of him. I hope he never leaves me. But I also know he loves climbing. Let me tell you folks, the next time we go climbing (not until next season for sure), it is serious.

I haven't really shared this cause it's a bummer to bring up but it feels good to get it out. Below are the awesome pictures I was taking before the big tumble. They're cool.