Brother of injured, stranded hunter: ‘It was nothing short of a miracle’

MONTICELLO, San Juan County – A Monticello man remains in the hospital after falling nearly 30 feet while antler hunting.

KSL spoke with Jared Crane’s brother, Samuel Crane about Jared’s experience before he was rescued a day after the fall.

“It was just a miracle; it was nothing short of a miracle,” said Samuel Crane of his brother’s time spent lost and injured in the Montezuma Creek area.

Samuel Crane’s brother, Jared went antler hunting on Thursday afternoon. The 39-year-old was reported missing by his family when he didn’t return that night as scheduled. After his fall, Jared spent nearly 24 hours on the ground, badly injured, waiting to be rescued.

Related: Man rescued day after suffering broken bones in fall in San Juan County

“He remembers falling and landing and just being really short of breath. And he said for the first hour he wasn’t sure if he was going to live or die, because he didn’t know what kind of internal injuries he sustained. But he knew he couldn’t move very well,” Samuel Crane said.

Jared told his brother he watched the helicopter go by eight times, as he struggled to wave it down. Samuel told us, the last time it came flying by, Jared mustered up all his strength to throw his empty water bottle up in the air; that’s when the helicopter spotted him.

Speaking to KSL on the phone from his Moab home, Samuel said his brother thought he was going to die numerous times during the 24-hour period he was stranded, waiting for help. Jared told him flies were hovering around his wounds, and he spotted buzzards overhead; both times, he thought that was the end.

He’s still in the hospital, recovering from broken bones, a cracked pelvis and a punctured lung. But his family expects he will be released next week, and he can return to his Monticello home.