Peninsula Daily News and news sources
FORKS — A local resident is likely alive today because of a chance decision on the part of an Idaho resident to go deer hunting earlier this week.
Forks resident Larry McClanahan, 74, was on a hunting trip Tuesday in the mountains east of Swanlake, Idaho, in the southern part of the state’s Bannock County.
He was heading out of the wilderness when disaster struck, according to the Idaho State Journal.
McClanahan’s all-terrain vehicle slipped off the trail and down a 30-foot ravine.
He and the ATV rolled down the embankment, with the vehicle coming to rest on top of him.
The crash severely injured McClanahan’s head and neck.
At about 7:20 p.m., 25-year-old Aaron Larson was on his way home from bagging a three-point buck when something caught his eye in the ravine next to the four-wheeler trail he was taking.
“I just so happened to glance over and see what turned out to be his headlight pressed up against the side [of the ravine],” said Larson, who farms with his father-in-law outside of Swanlake.
“I asked if anyone was down there and thought I heard something, so I shut off my four-wheeler. I asked again and he said, ‘Help.’”
Larson carefully made his way on foot to the bottom of the ravine and saw that McClanahan was pinned under an ATV.
Larson freed the man and tried to assess his injuries.
“I asked if he was OK, and he said he was paralyzed,” Larson said. “He didn’t think he could move his legs or his hands.”
Larson then realized that he had left his cellphone at home about 3 miles away.
“I said, ‘Sir, I’m going to have to leave you for 20 minutes,’ and I grabbed my four-wheeler and went back to the house,” Larson said.
“I got the phone and dialed 9-1-1 and then grabbed a couple blankets to take up to him.”
When Larson got back to the ravine, McClanahan had taken a turn for the worse.
“He slowly lost energy and didn’t want to talk, and then he stopped talking, and all he could do was groan,” Larson said.
Larson then headed alone to a nearby road to look for help and encountered emergency responders at the trailhead by chance and guided them back to the ravine.
More emergency responders arrived soon after, and a Life Flight emergency helicopter was called in to transport McClanahan to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho.
But due to difficulties in finding a landing zone, emergency responders ended up bringing McClanahan off the mountain in a special trailer towed by an ATV and then on to the medical center.
Expected to recover
Although McClanahan spent most of Wednesday in surgery at the medical center, he’s expected to recover, his son, Ray McClanahan of Scappoose, Ore., told the newspaper.
“My dad was trapped under a four-wheeler out in the middle of nowhere,” Ray McClanahan said.
“He couldn’t move his arms or legs and would have froze to death or a predator would have gotten him.
“He was in an area where there weren’t any people. I consider it a miracle that someone was in the right spot at the right time to find him.”
Larson said he’s convinced much of what happened on that mountain was something more than luck.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Larson said. “I had to talk my wife, Melanie, into letting me go hunting.
“I felt I needed to go so I could fill my tag because I hardly went out hunting for deer this year, but I really needed to go for another reason.
“I think this all happened for a reason.”
