Miracle on the Mountain

When Cochrane saw Jacob, he knew the hiker wasn't going to die. The young man looked like he'd been in a bar fight. His cheeks and eyes were sunken. His face had turned bright-red from the constant freezing wind nipping at it. His nose was black from inhaling smoke from the fire pit two nights before, and he smelled of smoke. He had a deep cough.

Jacob just looked at him.

"Are you Jacob?" Cochrane asked again.

"Yes, I am," Jacob muttered.

"Do you know what day it is?" Cochrane continued.

"No."

"How long have you been out here?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know where you are?"

"In a car."

"Good, good."

On a consciousness scale of 1 to 4, with 4 the highest, Cochrane ranked Jacob at 1.5.

Cochrane also examined Jacob's feet. They were dark-red to black two-thirds of the way up to Jacob's ankle.

It would be another half-hour before they reached an ambulance.

When Jacob saw the ambulance, he tried to refuse the ride. "I don't want to waste money," he said. "Take me in the truck."

But when the rescuers insisted, the normally stubborn Jacob relented. "All right, let's go."

In the ambulance, the rescue workers set up a call between Jacob and his mother.

Jacob sounded frazzled and exhausted. The ambulance rushed him to Vail Valley Medical Center.

When Jean, Jim and Josh arrived at the hospital, they ran to Jacob's bedside and took turns hugging him.

Still filthy, Jacob was covered with a heating pad and blankets in an attempt to raise his body temperature. An IV pumped fluids into his hypothermic body.

The frostbite on his feet was minor, the doctors said. His feet had improved to a rosy-pink color. Because he had kept hiking — and kept blood circulating — his feet wouldn't be amputated. However, doctors told him that he might have permanent nerve damage on the big and second toes on his left foot. He also had several small burns on his legs from sitting too close to the fire.

Given a good prognosis for recovery, Jacob gave in to his hunger pangs. He wanted pizza. Domino's delivered a sausage pie to the emergency room. Josh once again kept his brother company through the night. This time, he was really there.