By Leon Pantenburg

In February, 2007. a routine run near Bend turned into a desperate fight for survival.

Karen Johnson, 50, of Bend, runs in the Phil’s Trail area about four miles west of the city’s western boundary, several times a week. Early on the

The popular Phil's Trail trailhead is about one-half mile from where Karen Johnson nearly lost her life while running.

morning of Feb. 1, Johnson took off on a routine training session.

It was cold and windy, and Johnson wore winter running clothes that included synthetic tights and top, gloves and a sweatshirt. A windbreaker went over everything, and for gear, she carried a water bottle, a whistle, a charged cell phone, a pair of spiked ice grip devices that fit over running shoes and three chemical handwarmers in her fanny pack.

As the sun was coming up, Johnson was gingerly picking her way along a trail, not even running, when she hit a patch of black ice, slipped and fell.

“It felt like someone pulled the rug out from underneath me,” she recalled. “I heard and felt both bones in my leg break as I hit the ground. The pain was excruciating.”

Johnson couldn’t move, sprawled on the ice. She got her cell phone out of her fanny pack and dialed for help.

No coverage.

After the initial failed connection, Johnson dialed the number of her fiancé, Ken Rose, and waved her cell phone above her head. This time, Johnson got through.

Rose knew Johnson’s winter routine and route, and approximately where she would be. He had also just joined Deschutes County Search and Rescue and had his gear ready. Luckily, a friend, Randy Clumbel, had stopped by on his way to work, so the two headed out together.

“I dialed Ken rather than 911 because he would know what to do,” Johnson said. “I might only have time for a few words. I told him I fell, thought I had broken my leg, and where I was.”

While Rose and Clumbel hurried to Phil’s Trail, Rose contacted Deschutes County Search and Rescue directly and requested help.

In the meantime, Johnson’s situation had gotten increasingly worse. She

These items are lightweight, easily carried and could save your life it you're injured while running. From left: handwarmers, cell phone, flashlight, knife, Boy Scout flint stick, whistle, and firestarter.

had used up two of the handwarmers while running, so Johnson took the last one, activated it and put it inside her top, next to the skin on her chest.

“It was 21 degrees, I was shaking uncontrollably, couldn’t move and was lying on ice,” she said. “I screamed out in pain a couple of times, blew on the whistle and called for help. Apparently, I was the only one out there.”

Rose and Clumbel arrived at the accident scene about 30 minutes after Johnson’s call. Johnson’s lips were blue, and she appeared to be past the first stages of hypothermia, Rose said. She was suffering intensely from the broken leg. Clumbel immediately started gathering wood and quickly built a roaring bonfire next to Johnson, while Rose covered her with a sleeping bag and administered first aid.

“It was a tossup which was more serious, the hypothermia or the leg,” Rose said. “She was on ice, but one of the broken bones was pushing against the skin, and if we moved her, it might have bled and been worse.”

“I was completely lucid, but I just wanted to get out of the cold,” Johnson said. “If Ken and Randy hadn’t gotten there when they did, I don’t know if I would have lasted until help arrived.”

About an hour after Rose and Clumbel arrived, a search and rescue team with a gurney arrived. They carried her out a half-mile to a waiting ambulance, which transported Johnson to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend.

Johnson’s ordeal ended relatively quickly because she did virtually everything right. She was also really, really lucky.

“Even if you’re just out for the day, or a quick outing, you can step in a hole or twist your ankle or something, and you’ll be stuck for a long time,” Sgt. Marvin Combs of Deschutes County Search and Rescue said. “Don’t go out by yourself, tell someone where you’re going, when you’ll be back, and then contact them when you return.”

Emergency gear is another necessity, he said, and Johnson’s survival resulted from having what she needed.

“Because someone knew where she would be,” Combs said, “locating Johnson didn’t waste any precious time. The other contributing factor to her survival was that she remained calm and didn’t panic.”

“She was prepared and went out with the right equipment,” Combs said, “and that was a blessing for her and for us.”

Johnson made a full recovery from her injury. A subsequent bone density test rated Johnson’s bones equivalent to those of a 20-year-old woman.

On May 1, 2007, she returned to Phil’s Trail and walked 100 yards on crutches. Today, fully prepared with her usual survival gear, Johnson regularly runs in that area.

She has also become somewhat of a preparedness evangelist. Johnson tells her story whenever possible in the hope people will learn from her experience.

“It’s pretty scary to get in as much trouble as I did only a few miles from town,” she says. “I easily could have died.”

The complete story appeared in the Oct. 14, 2007 edition of “The Bulletin,” in Bend, Oregon.