By MARK THIESSEN, AP
Updated 9:33 PM EDT, May 29, 2025
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska man who was pinned facedown in an icy creek by a 700-pound (318-kilogram) boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife’s quick thinking and lots of luck.
Kell Morris’ wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage.
His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles.
Once rescuers arrived, it took seven men and inflatable air bags to lift the boulder off as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Morris, 61, said he realizes he is probably the luckiest man alive. “And luckier that I have such a great wife,” he said Thursday.
His wife, Jo Roop, is a retired Alaska State Trooper. They moved to Seward, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of Anchorage, from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department.
Brownie Bytes Reaction
Most folks in this situation don’t survive. The water temperature alone, for the duration of the time he was trapped, would usually not end up with a good outcome. See the video interview with the victim.
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