The two hunters were wandering the wrong way in the Wyoming wilderness when a small plane crashed Sunday morning and they rescued the injured pilot from the raging flames.
By coincidence, the pair, who were specially trained to rescue injured pilots, had a series of missteps, including taking a wrong turn while trying to avoid a grizzly bear on a hunting trip, which reportedly put them in a good position to see and respond to the burning crash scene.
Steve Atencio, a Blackhawk pilot with the Wyoming Army Guard and former firefighter, and JR Larsen, a former athletic trainer, heard a loud explosion around 10:45 a.m. and sprang into action in the town of Meeteetse.
After searching the area, they He told Cowboy State Daily They saw thick smoke coming from the trees and called for help.
Neither of them had cell phone service, so Atencio quickly pulled out his Garmin InReach device and sent out an SOS. They walked to the crash site, carrying about 40 pounds of gear each, as they tried to contact emergency authorities.
“We were both sprinting through the trees,” Atencio told the paper.
As Atencio worked with emergency responders who had finally received his emergency message, Larsen ran a short distance ahead of him up the muddy slope, stumbling several times as they tried to get to the source of the smoke as quickly as possible.
When the pair reached the crashed plane, Larsen reportedly yelled, “Is anyone there?”
The pilot responded, lying face down near the fire with his hands under his head and calling for help. He told the hunters that he still had movement in his arms and legs, but that he thought his spine was broken.
The pilot also told Larsen that the passenger, later identified as 78-year-old Mary Lou Sanderson, was believed to have died.
“That's when it hit me how serious this was,” Larsen told Cowboy State Daily.
As the fire spread toward the pilot and burning branches began falling all around him, both Larsen and Atencio did their best to pull him to safety.
Police initially placed a tarp under Atencio's body, but it ripped, and then police transformed Atencio's backpack into a makeshift harness, which they then wrapped around the pilot and carried him away, the media reported.
The pair also had to attend to the severe burns sustained by the pilot as they pulled the man through the brush.
At one point the pilot reportedly said, “Leave me here,” but rescuers were able to get him to safety.
A rescue helicopter was eventually guided by Atencio to land about 75 yards from the crash site and transported the pilot to a hospital in Montana, where he is currently receiving treatment, according to reports.
The passenger was confirmed dead.
The hunters told local newspapers that it was almost fate that they were in the right place at the right time to rescue the pilot.
“There was nothing written on the plane about where we were going,” Larsen told Cowboy State Daily. “For whatever reason, we were being put there.”
