The Motorcycle Accident
Near Banff, Marble Canyon- September 20, 2025
Today will be one of those days forever etched in my memory.
I was driving along one of the most beautiful highways I’ve ever seen- through Kootenay National Forest, headed toward Banff. The mountains were painted with fall colors, their sides lit in golds, oranges, and reds. Just before Banff, I decided to stop at Marble Canyon, drawn in by the unreal color of the water. It was the craziest shade of turquoise I’d ever seen. Stunning.
I parked, got Ginny into her little backpack, and started down the short trail. I’d only just taken a couple of pictures when it happened. I was climbing back up toward some stairs when a loud crash shattered the stillness. Dust rose in the air above me. The road ran about fifty feet higher than where I stood down by the river. Through that haze of dust, I saw what no one ever wants to see: a motorcycle and a human body, flying separately through the air.
I think I closed my eyes when the body hit. My stomach turned, my breath caught. In the rocks and water below, I saw a tire, part of a helmet, twisted metal. At first, I thought the rider had no chance.
But then heroes appeared. They came scrambling, sliding, bleeding as they clawed their way down that steep embankment. The road was lined with concrete barriers- this had clearly been a dangerous curve for others before- but still, these strangers risked everything to get down to her. Some ripped up their own legs sliding down the gravel just to reach her faster.
When they got to her, I realized it was a woman. Somehow, she was alive. She was pinned between her motorcycle and a fallen tree, the current pulling against her broken body. They fought to free her, to drag her to the riverbank. Once there, they stripped off their own clothes to make tourniquets, working frantically to stop the bleeding.
Other men scrambled into the river for the bike. It was unbelievable- they hauled it up piece by piece, hurling shattered plastic onto the bank. By the time they wrestled the frame out of the water, it looked no bigger than a suitcase. A whole motorcycle.
And still, she clung to life.
I tried 911- nothing. No service. My Starlink connected me, but even then, I got an error saying there were no emergency services in that area. Desperate, I called my sister. She’s a nurse, she has an iPhone, and somehow, that call went through. If I could call her, I could call someone. I searched and found the Canadian Park Ranger emergency number, and thank God, it worked. They said they’d come as fast as they could.
But it took nearly an hour. Forty-five minutes to an hour before the first squad car arrived on the scene. And then more. By then, the crowd on the riverbank had done everything they could to keep her alive.
I stayed. I gave a statement. They asked for my email, for the pictures I’d taken before and after, to help piece it all together. I didn’t leave until the ambulance pulled away with her inside.
Her name is Abby. That’s all I know. She had so many injuries, so many broken places, but she was alive when they carried her up that impossible cliff. I don’t know how. Men cried in the parking lot afterward. Tough, grown men. Because they had seen what I had seen, and because it had been so close to tragedy.
Tonight, I didn’t have the heart to stop in Banff. I waved at it as I passed by on Highway 1 and drove on, needing space to breathe. Tomorrow I’ll go back, and I’ll see it properly, with gratitude for this stunning earth and for life itself.
Tonight, my prayers are for Abby.
*Scroll in on several of the pictures below to see Abby and the heroes who rescued her*
