CEDAR CITY, Utah — More than a week after surviving a 50-foot fall into a remote, abandoned mine shaft, a Cedar City man's recovery continues.
Bridget Dorris says her husband, Charles, had been checking out their neighbors' mining claim on and off since the summer, and that's where he was on November 5.
"I texted him about six o'clock that night and said, 'Are you alive?' and didn't get any responses," Bridget recalled. "Our neighbor, Richard, that had been out with him, showed up at our door with his pickup at 11:30, told me that the ambulance came, that he fell."
Just before 4 p.m. that day, first responders received a call claiming that Dorris had fallen down the vertical mine shaft in a remote area of Hamblin Valley in Iron County.
"We had nine members that were out there working on this rescue," said Iron Co. Sheriff Ken Carpenter. "Once we got him back up to the surface, they were able to load him into one of our deputy's vehicles and transport him down to where Gold Cross ambulance was stationed and was able to get him into the ambulance."
Carpenter added that Dorris had a lot of the proper gear to be able to go down and come back out of the mine.
"It looks more like he was getting set up and just slipped and fell," the sheriff explained.
Following the rescue, Dorris was taken to St. George Regional Hospital where his recovery began.
His wife said her husband also hit the top of his head, resulting in a staple being put in, along with several broken ribs and a hematoma on his kidney.
"We had, the brain injury, it's on his left side, so we're looking at communication issues," Bridget shared.
Dorris is making strides in his recovery and he was in the ICU until Tuesday when he was moved to neuro rehab.
Bridget said it was a miracle Charles survived.
"Right now, they're saying 21 days before he comes home, but that's subject to change," she said.
Throughout the ordeal, the southern Utah community has rallied around the Dorris family, starting a GoFundMe to help with the recovery.
