A 26-year-old woman had a near-death experience when she got stuck in a remote canyon in northern Arizona.
Madison Hart, 26, was stemming down the Wildcat Tank Canyon in Page, located just by the Utah border when she got stuck. Stemming is a technique used to travel up or down a slot canyon and requires a lot of effort from the legs.
In a detailed video on TikTok, Hart shared that she and her friend had started their hike around 12 p.m. that day and reached the top of the canyon around 1 p.m. Hart said temperatures were high that day and that she and her friend had "underestimated" how it hot it actually would be. Temperatures touched 103 degrees on July 19 in Page, according to AccuWeather.
They had stemmed about 100 to 200 feet when the heat and exhaustion took a toll on Hart, and she became shaky and started sliding.
"I started panicking...and I slid," Hart said. "I started going deeper into the canyon and I just slid to the bottom, and she (Hart's friend) also did, but then she kept going because she had more stamina than me."
Hart was unable to pull herself out and ended up getting stuck from her hips and was only able to twist side to side, adding she couldn't lay down or go back further because the canyon curved in and there was a puddle of water right beneath it.
“If I went forward or backward, I would have been stuck completely and gotten a crush injury where I'm not able to move and then I basically suffocate,” Hart said, adding that she "decided to stay put," to avoid further incidents.
While Hart was stuck in the canyon, her friend sprang into action, lighting a fire as a signal, moving some rocks to try to get Hart out and calling for help, despite limited to no coverage. Hart, who also had her phone with her, said she attempted to call 911 several times but was unable to get through due to lack of service.
"When she got service, she called 911 and they answered for about like 10 seconds," Hart said. "They said they couldn't hear us and then it disconnected."
After about three hours of being stuck in the canyon, Hart's friend was able to send some messages via Snapchat. Her roommate responded to one of them and told them that they'd send for help.
A spokesperson for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Jon Paxton, told USA TODAY Thursday they were notified of the stuck hikers around 5:30 p.m. on July 19 by the National Parks Service. Paxton said rescue teams with multiple agencies responded to the situation and were able to remove the stuck women.
Hart's friend was rescued first since she had "climbed out a little further up the canyon and was uninjured." Hart, who was a "another hundred yards back down the canyon" and was unable to climb up, as per the sheriff's office, was rescued after.
Hart said by the time help came and she was rescued, she'd been stuck in the canyon for almost 13 hours and had been without water for almost nine hours.
Rescue officials with the Page Fire Department were able extradite Hart from the canyon and flew her to a local hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. Hart said she initially declined medical assistance since she didn't have medical insurance, but first responders advised her that the accident had impacted her kidneys due to standing in one position for so long and was dehydrated. Hart said she spent a night at the hospital and was discharged the next day, though her kidneys are still healing.
"My legs had turned purple from standing for so long,” Hart told Storyful about her experience.
Hart said she also damaged a nerve in her arm and the sheriff's office said she had an ankle injury when she was rescued.
Hart also recorded the moments while she was stuck in the canyon, saying that she only started filming when she was sure that help was coming and the two would be going home. The video captured by Hart shows her deep inside the narrow canyon.
Hart said that she's previously "been through a lot of canyons," and to those that are way more technical but "accidents happen" and cannot be predicted.
"The whole thing was embarrassing," Hart said. "I did not anticipate getting stuck. I did feel like a failure. It was very embarrassing. I never wanted to be those people. I never did want to waste resources or waste people's time or energy."
However, she thanked rescue officials and the medical team for saving her and her friend's life.
"Thank you, guys," Hart said. "Just glad to be alive."
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
