Army Veteran is Lifesaving Climbing Hero

Back on February 8, I wrote a blog post about a rappelling accident at the Garden of the Gods. The climber who fell, a 21-year-old U.S. Air Force Academy cadet, is still in critical condition at the Academy hospital and no details about him, including his name, have been released. So, despite rumors on other Internet climbing sites, he is still alive.

From the accident, however, a hero has emerged—a non-climber named Sergeant 1st Class Jesus Rodriguez, an eight-year U.S. Army soldier and Iraq veteran stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. It turns out that Rodriguez, trained in first-aid by an Army lifesaving course, heard the climber fall and hit the concrete pathway below the spire, and was immediately on the scene.

He immediately took charge, tipping the victim on his side to drain blood from his lungs, and applying pressure to other injuries until a doctor and EMTs arrived on the scene. For his efforts, the Army awarded Rodriguez the Meritorious Service Medal. Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Lobdell, his commanding officer, said at the award ceremony: “There are people like him who are heroes in our Army and then go out and be heroes to the citizens in our community.”

Here’s a tip of the beanie to Sergeant Rodriguez. Well done, sir!

For more information and photographs, read an article in today’s Gazette newspaper by reporter Lance Benzel about the accident, Sergeant Rodriguez’s actions, and the medal ceremony.

Photograph above: The Gateway area at Garden of the Gods. The climber fell from the top of the small spire at the middle right. Photograph © Stewart M. Green