Women Who Survived 40-Foot Fall Reunites with Intermountain Caregivers Who Saved Her Life

As a critical care nurse for 28 years, Karen Conner, 58, from Lander, Wyoming, never thought she would be on the other side of trauma care, but that’s exactly what happened last April. Now, she’s excited to reunite with the Intermountain Health caregivers who helped save her life and to thank them for all that they did for her.

What started out as a leisurely walk on April 21, 2023. along a dirt road in La Verkin, Utah, with her husband and three dogs, she soon found she was in an Intermountain Life Flight helicopter being flown to the trauma center at Intermountain St. George Hospital.

Conner had smelled something very foul and went to check it out, when she tripped on a rock, fell and slid down the cliff side – headfirst – falling more than 40 feet. Only a small rock and a bush on a ledge kept her from falling further below into the Virgin River.

A quick call by her husband to 9-1-1, got Intermountain Life Flight in the air. The crew used a basket and ropes to get her out of the precarious position on the side of the cliff to get her to the hospital.

Conner’s spine and neck were broken in multiple places, she fractured several bones in her right leg and left ankle, as well as receiving a serious head injury, cuts and bruises.

“I felt very grateful I was still alive and not paralyzed,” said Conner. “Intermountain Health did a great job putting a mess back together.”

“This was great to see her today,” said Rylee Olsen, Intermountain Life Flight RN. “We see some harsh things, sometimes on a daily basis. So, to see someone afterwards and to see how she has healed, that is uplifting to us.”

Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital is a level II trauma center and 284-bed hospital located on two campuses in St. George, Utah. St. George Regional is the major medical referral center for northwestern Arizona, southeastern Nevada and southern Utah.