My sweet Nature Girl & Wild Child, Emma, has spent her 28 years of life in the beautiful New York Finger Lakes Region hiking in the woods, exploring ponds/lakes, gazing at the stars and communing with nature, especiallly at waterfalls.

Emma's favorite waterfall is Deckertown Falls in Montour, where she has gone hundreds of times. Tragically, on Earth Day 2026, around 6:30 pm, Emma's celebration of nature ended in a harrowing life-threatening experience.

While navigating a narrow part of the trail, Emma slipped and fell 40 feet into the ravine, hitting rocks along the way & landing hard in the muddy rocky water. With a broken femur, a spinal fracture, a hip fracture, and in excruciating pain, Emma slowly dragged her body out of the water & onto a large rock. She couldn't walk, was laying injured deep in the ravine, and her cell phone was nowhere to be found. Having gone to the falls alone because none of her friends were free to go with her & with no way to contact anyone, Emma realized her only chance at being found was to use her voice. She began screaming for help in hopes other hikers may be out on Earth Day too & hear her. After hours of yelling to no avail, exhausted & with darkness approaching, she rmade peace that she was going to die. "At least I am going to die in a place I love, next to my favorite waterfall," she thought, trying to practice gratefulness even in the worst predicament.

As she lay down to die, Emma experienced sudden clarity that she was going to survive. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, found solace that she was spending the night under the beautiful stars & kept hope to be found the next day.

In shock, exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and in agony, Emma knew that she had to stay awake to stay alive. So she stayed upright & fought off sleep. It was a frigid night, her clothes were soaking wet, and she felt her body going into hypothermia. Alone & in pain, she was still terrified she might die here. Emma has always had a passion for life & refused to have her life taken from her now. She emptied out the backpack that had stayed on her back when she fell, put the empty backpack over her head to keep more body heat from escaping her head & once the sun rose, she moved the best she could into the sunlight to seek any amount of warmth. Hours and hours passed, but despite being scared and alone, Emma prayed, stayed calm, & remained optimistic that she would eventually be found. She focused all her energy on staying awake. Around 12:30 pm the next day, after being in agony & fighting for her life for 18 long hours alone, Emma decided she would try to scream for help again. With her dry, hoarse voice, she managed to yell "Help!" one last time. Someone answered her! They heard her! She was going to be okay! Having worked hard to stay calm, optimistic and strong so that she could survive, now Emma finally allowed her built up emotions to explode into tears of relief. The hikers called 911.

Emma's rescue took about 2 hours, was very intense, dramatic & involved the courageous and skilled dedication of MANY firefighters & EMS professionals, including the Montour Falls Fire Department, the Watkins Glen Fire Department, the Dundee Fire Department, the Odessa Fire Department, the Burdett Fire Department, the Cayuga Ambulance EMS & the Guthrie Air Helicopter EMS. Trained ropes rescuers secured ropes to trees, repelled down into the ravine, assessed Emma's condition, secured her body safely, pulled her up, placed her on a stretcher, carried her to the ambulance which brought her to a lifeflight helicopter that safely brought Emma to Guthrie's Robert Packer Trauma Center in Sayre, PA. She received treatment for hypothermia (her body temperature was only 91), dehydration, & low oxygen levels. Her fractures were assessed, and Emma had major surgery on her right leg to insert metal rods and screws into her femur . We are extremely grateful to ALL of the dedicated, caring, and skilled professionals who saved Emma's life and repaired her body. Special appreciation to Mike, the first rescuer to reach Emma, who held her, comforted her as she bawled & stayed with her until she was placed in the ambulance.

Emma's treatment team has been amazed that her injuries were not worse & are impressed by her resilience. Although she is doing her best to stay positive, Emma has a very long & painful recovery ahead of her. She had major surgery & will be unable to work for at least 6 months. Her goal is to eventually get back to her former life: bringing joy to others as a server at Olive Garden, spending time with friends, creating paintings, taking photographs, going to music festivals, enjoying nature, and of course-- hiking up her favorite waterfalls.

Our family is tremendously grateful for all of the prayers, emotional support, outstanding medical care, and appreciate as well any financial support (no matter how small) that anyone can offer to help Emma in covering her medical bills and living costs as she works hard to heal, recover, & get her life back.