{"id":792329,"date":"2019-01-24T08:12:23","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T15:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=356800"},"modified":"2019-01-24T08:12:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T15:12:23","slug":"ohio-man-thankful-to-be-alive-after-bystanders-resuscitate-him-on-vail-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/ohio-man-thankful-to-be-alive-after-bystanders-resuscitate-him-on-vail-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio man thankful to be alive after bystanders resuscitate him on Vail Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"
An Ohio man is alive and well after suffocating upside down in deep snow on Saturday in Vail Mountain\u2019s Marmot Valley before some other skiers and snowboarders, including a CPR-certified doctor, came to his rescue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was dead. No doubt about it,\u201d said Michael Laush, who was enjoying a powder day with his friend, both celebrating their 40th birthdays. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of surreal to me. I was out for most of it, so I don\u2019t really remember much. Being able to talk to Tom, Karen and Beth and get their side of what they saw, it\u2019s very hard \u2014 it\u2019s very emotional. I mean these people don\u2019t know me and they saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday morning, Vail Mountain reported an 11-inch powder day, with 20 inches of new snow in the previous three days. Chair 21 closed for parts of the day so that ski patrol could evacuate Laush from the mountain.<\/p>\n
‘Two boots sticking out of the snow’<\/h2>\n\nMichael Laush, left, was in Vail with his friend Slavko Kucinic\u00a0to celebrate their 40th birthdays. (Photos special to the Vail Daily)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
Tom and Karen Nern, of Vail Dermatology, were on Vail Mountain with their team having a ski day with doctors and providers, heading for the Back Bowls.<\/p>\n
Tom saw a woman in black and white \u201cjust screaming for help. I didn\u2019t know what she needed help for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom credits this woman for being the first person on the scene, although they weren\u2019t able to exchange information following the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got there, there were two ski boots sticking out of the snow,\u201d Tom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me a minute to figure out what was going on because he was upside down in the same thing as a tree well but on the other side of a rock obstacle that had been marked,\u201d Karen said. \u201cHe was buried upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nerns, along with others who skied or snowboarded by, began to try digging Laush out of the snow, including a ski instructor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt probably took six or seven minutes to get him out,\u201d Karen said.<\/p>\n
Laush said he stands 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 270 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cDigging that deep we realized we couldn\u2019t get down to his face, so we started giving him a pull,\u201d Tom said. \u201cI put one boot under my armpit and one of the other guys did the same thing and then we had a third guy pulling on his belt and got him out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beth McCrann, a retired OBGYN, was out at Vail enjoying a day with family when she came across the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was just being like a cheerleader,\u201d Karen said of McCrann, \u201ctelling everyone to keep digging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pulling Laush\u2019s body out of the snow was only half the battle, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really rattling for me because it was pulling a corpse out of the snow,\u201d Tom said. \u201cHe was completely gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘He started coming back’<\/h2>\n\nMichael Laush plans on returning to Vail next year.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t breathing. He was purple. No pulse \u2014 nothing,\u201d Tom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was blue and purple,\u201d Karen said. \u201cThere was no pulse, no breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was bluer than blue when we got him out,\u201d McCrann said.<\/p>\n
The Vail Dermatology team includes a staff member who teaches CPR, and the company offers it to all of its employees.<\/p>\n
Karen got her recertification about six weeks ago.<\/p>\n
While Karen gave three sets of chest compressions, McCrann provided about six to eight breaths.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started coming back. He started breathing like a snorkeling kind of breath,\u201d Karen said. \u201cI could feel his pulse just pounding back into his chest.\u201d<\/p>\n
With local organizations like Starting Hearts, sudden cardiac arrest is something everyone should be trained in, Karen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just never know when your last breath might be, but you also never know when you might be able to help somebody,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy to me that he came back \u2014 he was gone. Three rounds of chest compressions and he was back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks for ‘giving me my life back’<\/h2>\n\nMichael Laush’s family came to Vail to meet with Tom and Karen Nern as well as Beth McCrann.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
Laush made a quick recovery after being taken to Denver hospital.<\/p>\n
He has spoken to the Nerns and others, expressing extreme gratitude. On Monday, his father and sisters came to Vail to have lunch with the Nerns and McCrann.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing I could do on Earth to thank you for giving me my life back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Laush returned to Ohio this week, where he works for a power generation company.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the true hero of the whole situation was the woman who flagged me down,\u201d Tom said. \u201cShe\u2019s really the key person in there as far as saving his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vail Ski Patrol also acted swiftly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate the quick response from our guests in providing emergency CPR on-mountain. This showcases the importance for people to be trained in CPR,\u201d said Doug Lovell, chief operating officer at Vail Mountain. \u201cThank you to Dr. Karen Nern, Tom Nern, Dr. Beth McCrann, and the rest of the bystanders who reacted so quickly. They saved this man\u2019s life, and on behalf of Vail Mountain and Vail Ski Patrol, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Laush and all those involved, a little luck and being in the right place at the right time helped save a life on Vail Mountain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the most remarkable and life-changing experience of my life \u2014 unbelievable,\u201d Karen said. \u201cI was just shocked that he came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I can tell you right now that I have every intention of coming back next year and skiing Vail with them,” Laush said of his angels on the mountain.<\/p>\n
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