Southern’s Backpacking Students Aid Injured Hiker
News
A backpacking class excursion turned into a Good Samaritan opportunity last fall for students from Southern Adventist University who were exploring a state park in Middle Tennessee.
Led by Assistant Professor Leslie Evenson from the School of Health and Kinesiology, the group spent three days hiking and camping in scenic Savage Gulf State Park in Beersheba Springs while applying skills learned in the classroom. On a rocky path just under a mile from the trailhead, Southern’s group encountered an injured hiker with a lower leg injury that prevented him from walking any further. Four students stayed with the immobilized man while the rest of the group continued on to their campsite destination.
While sunset was quickly approaching, Jonathan Moats, senior nursing major; Tanner Moran, junior nursing major; Grayson Noble, junior electrical engineering major; and Eric Wolf, junior mechanical engineering major, assisted a park ranger in transporting the hiker back up the steep trail with an 800-foot elevation gain.
“It wasn’t doable alone,” says Moats. “The ranger only had a crutch and a splint. So we volunteered to help.”
The foursome supported the injured man on the flatter parts of the trail, trading off between helping bear his weight on their shoulders and lugging heavy hiking backpacks. The final stretch involved carrying him up 150 feet of rough rock and wood stairs. Less than an hour after departure, the students arrived back at the trailhead with the hiker and ranger.
“The students were very helpful with carrying out the injured hiker, and we thoroughly appreciated their efforts,” says Todd Childress, ranger at Savage Gulch State Park.
Noble and Moats give all the glory to God, praising divine providence.
“God gave us the energy to get back up the trail with the victim plus the extra weight of the backpacks,” says Noble.
“It’s really cool how God put us there just at the right time,” adds Moats. “If we were a bit earlier, we never would have seen the hiker, and the ranger would have had to help him alone. If we’d been any later, we would have been struggling after dark. Even in the worst of situations, God still works things out just perfectly.”
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