Backcountry Trails Camp Supervisor

California Conservation Corps

8/26/1996

Special Service Award (Silver)

At approximately 4:15 p.m., while a father and his two young sons, ages 10 and 8, were camping in the remote backcountry at McGee Lake in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, his ten year old son fell, hitting his head near his eyebrow. The fall resulted in a depressed skull fracture and a created a three inch wound on his forehead down to the bone. His father knew he needed help and had to find it quickly to save his son’s life. He hiked over the ridge to Sapphire Lake where he had seen tents the week before. Upon hearing what happened to the man’s son, Backcountry Trails Camp Supervisor Bryan Little sprinted 600 feet over slippery rocks and steep slopes to the top of the ridge in an attempt to contact the Park Dispatcher on the radio. With no trail to the ridge top and only Mr. Little’s experience, skill and common sense to guide him, this was a test of human strength and endurance. His starting point at Sapphire Lake was 11,000 feet. For most humans it takes great effort to stand upright in such thin air, let alone sprint to a distance ridge top. Mr. Little called Dispatch for a medical evacuation and then continued to the site to attend to the boy, approximately 45 minutes from camp. Once Mr. Little reached the boy, he checked his vital signs, kept everyone calm and called back into Park Dispatch, passing the boy’s vital signs to the hospital and relaying the exact location with such assurance that the CHP helicopter pilot was willing to risk a rescue mission despite approaching darkness. Fortunately, the daylight lasted just long enough to complete the rescue. The 11 year old boy survived.