This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Holladay • Two weeks ago, Utah's Mike Trabert was lying on his back for the second straight day in a remote Russian hospital, his neck broken.
In his room were five other patients, doctors who spoke only Russian and a television blasting at all hours of the day and night in a language he didn't understand.
This was not the adventure he'd signed up for.
On Thursday, sitting in his own Holladay living room, Trabert felt more optimistic, despite wearing a neck brace that extended from his chin to his torso.
Trabert is an athlete, coach and teacher known throughout Utah for his tennis game. Over the last couple of decades, Trabert said, he's gone on about 15 skiing "safaris," or expeditions, with his friends to extreme and remote places around the globe.
On April 18, the third day of their heli-skiing trip to a volcanic mountain on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, their helicopter crashed.
Instead of the usual landing, where the chopper would bounce a couple of times in the snow before coming to a stop, Trabert said the helicopter slammed down from 8 or 10 feet in the air. As the pilot tried to recover, the chopper slammed down again, sending it into a wild spin and rolling out of control and coming to "a violent stop."
Inside, Trabert and five other passengers, unsecured by seat belts were tossed around along with their skis, poles and other gear, he said.
One person was ejected and broke his legs. Trabert and another man broke their necks, and others suffered various injuries. Trabert blacked out for a moment, he said, but when he came to, he knew "right away" something was wrong with his neck.
"My head sort of flopped to the side, which freaked me out a little bit," Trabert said. Rescuers frantically pulled out the passengers, he said. Fortunately, the pilot had somehow maneuvered the helicopter so the side with the door was face-up, rather than buried in the snow.
Medical personnel took Trabert and another man injured in the crash to a hospital in the remote city of Petropavlovsk, Russia. The hospital's X-ray machine looked like it had come from "the stone ages," Trabert said. Though there was WiFi in the hospital, it took several days before Trabert and his wife at home could communicate consistently.
Trabert ended up waiting in the hospital for about a week before a medical team from a private company — funded by money raised in an online fundraising campaign — could get visas approved, pick him up and bring him home, he said.
He "struggled" and felt discouraged at the foreign hospital, but his wife Dinny Trabert read him comments left by students, colleagues, friends and family on the fundraising website that she believes "pulled him through."
Trabert says he still gets emotional when he thinks about how grateful he is for the support he's received in such a difficult time. The campaign exceeded its goal of raising $110,000 in less than a day, and was just shy of $120,000 by the time the family closed it.
"I basically cried," Trabert said. "I couldn't get over it."
Since he arrived back in Utah last week, Trabert has met with doctors who work for the University of Utah, who fitted him with the brace he'll sport for three months. They'll do X-rays frequently to monitor whether his vertebrae are healing on their own and decide whether Trabert can avoid surgery.
Trabert's case is a "miracle," his wife said, because even with the break, he suffered no spinal cord injuries.
Though Trabert's head and neck are immobilized, he can still walk and move his arms while wearing the brace. Doctors have instructed Trabert to perform regular activities around the house and eventually go for walks.
He's cautious with his movement, he said, but is getting his confidence back a little at a time.
Though Trabert isn't interested in going for another helicopter ride, he plans to get back to his normal, active lifestyle as soon as possible.
He's "shooting to ski next season," his wife said.
Twitter: @mnoblenews