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Show THE ZEPHYR/ OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2007 THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN THE ZEPHYR IN 1996 A STRANGE OCCURRENCE AT THOMPSON SPRINGS AN AIR FORCE COLONEL VANISHES TWICE IN EIGHT HOURS & HIS TRUCK JUST FLOATS AWAY? BY PETER HANEY Former County Councilman and Allen Memorial Hospital nurse Peter Haney swears that what follows is true... lt was 12:20 am on Thanksgiving Day 1986...1 had just finished my midnight rounds at the hospital. | went to an empty patient room and turned on Channel 6 to see the temperature--23 degrees. It's going to be a cold winter, I thought to myself. I walked down the corridor to make a fresh pot of coffee; with only two patients who couldn’t go home for the holiday, it had the markings of a quiet night. As the _ coffee started dripping, the emergency room door creaked open and slammed shut. I walked around the corner to see who it was and saw a woman pushing a wheel chair from the front of the trauma room and heading back out the door. I was right behind her. The woman’s car was pulled up tight by the ramp and she went to the passenger side and opened the door. It was cold. I could instantly see my every breath. I walked around behind the wheel chair to steady it as she helped a large man out of the car and into the wheelchair. He had a military uniform on, which was quite disheveled The woman asked if she could leave as it was late and she had to get home. I said sure and took her name and number. The man’s lungs had good breath sounds and he even had slight distant bowel sounds. | looked at his eyes, and though they reacted sluggishly he could focus on me. l asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee, he nodded yes. It was now 12:45 am. I went to get coffee for the two of us and called Dr. Mayberry. 1 gave him a report on the patient. He said he would be here soon. I walked down the hall and checked the other patients who were all asleep, and then took our coffee to the ER. He sat up with some help and began sipping his coffee. | asked if ] could check his wallet for ID, and he agreed. The man told me his name and said he was traveling from Florida to Nevada to see family for Thanksgiving. Just then Dr. Mayberry came Breer the door and proceeded to examine him and clean and dress his feet. And then we were told the most remarkable story. The man, a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force, told us he had left Grand Junction at dusk and was traveling west on Interstate 70. Just as he came over the hill and saw Thompson's two gas stations, he Be se Grviig loove ine food ond spiel ee away...He a lorge escarpment and then bis ee and dirty. His knees were showing through small holes in his pants and his feet were bare, white, blistered and bleeding-— the beginnings of frostbite. I pushed the man up the ramp and through the ER door the woman was holding . open for me and into the trauma room, grabbing the ER paper work as we went in. He looked dazed and distant as we helped him up on the stretcher and covered him with two or three blankets. I started to take his vitals, introduced myself and asked his name. He just looked up at me and said nothing while still shaking from the chills. I looked to the woman for some help. She said she found him wandering along the interstate between Thompson and Crescent Junction on her way back from Grand Junction; in fact, she had almost collided with the uniformed man, had swerved to miss him, and then had to back up to offer assistance. His pulse was 56, his skin cold. She said he didn’t say a word during the entire drive into town and asked if he was going to be all right. His temperature was 91, indicating mild hypothermia. I covered him with two blankets except for his feet which were pasty white on the soles and blistered red up to the ankles. HUB OF MOAB CYCLERY “CALL US TOLL-FREE 888.304.8219 Wa ae ed ca a 94 WEST 100 NORTH MOAB, UT 259.5333 rimeyclery.com BIKE RENTAL & SALES aN OTe MAPS & BOOKS 'RIM-BRANDED' MERCHANDISE felt the truck he was driving leave the road and start to “float away.” He said he was a pilot and knew what it was like to leave the ground and that this was almost like being in a balloon. He remembered floating toward a large Black escarpment and then that was it. Nothing. The next thing he remembered was walking toward the distant lights, cold and dirty, and then the close call with the car on the freeway. He looked up and Dr. Mayberry smiled and asked him if he had a bit of Old Bushmills to spare. The man swore he had not been drinking, and that as an Air Force pilot he had not had a drink for two years. He then asked if he could use the phone to call his base in Florida. It was almost 1 am. After a few moments on the phone he asked if we would step out for a bit. Dr. Mayberry admitted him for the night and jotted down some notes. We then went back in the trauma room and the man said he couldn't talk to us anymore about the incident. Dr. Mayberry said, "Good, then we’ll both get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning.” and then left. _ I wheeled the gurney with the Air Force Colonel into an empty patient room and he moved himself onto the bed. He then lay back and I checked his vitals again—- STRANGE & UNUSUAL? Our customers have looked like this little green feller for almost 20 years. nothin weird here |