Rick Collins' 30-Hour Rescue After a Wrangel Mountains Cliff Fall

He watched his son fall off a cliff. With no signal and night coming, Rick Collins began a 30-hour fight through Alaska's Wrangel Mountains to get help. On a sheep hunt deep in the Wrangel Mountains, 22-year-old Jake Collins celebrates after taking a legal ram. From the valley floor, Rick tracks him through a spotting scope as Jake searches for a way down. In a split second, Jake loses his grip at a cliff edge, windmills backward, and vanishes into a steep gorge. With no cell service and only hours of daylight left, Rick grabs what he can and powers up the mountain. He reaches Jake unconscious, with head cuts but no obvious broken bones. Unable to carry him out, Rick rigs a shelter from parachute cloth, builds a rock barrier, shields his son's eyes from scavenger birds, and stays beside him through a chill, seizure-ridden night to monitor his breathing. At first light, he makes the hardest choice: leave to find help. He battles bogged ATV trails, winches through mud, and reaches a good Samaritan who helps him contact an Alaska State Trooper dispatcher. A rescue helicopter launches from Anchorage. Terrain too steep for a hoist forces pararescue jumpers and Rick to hike in; they find Jake breathing under the tarp, move him to a hoist site, and fly him to Providence Medical Center in Anchorage. After more than 20 days in a coma, Jake opens his eyes and speaks two words: "hello" and "mom." Years later, he is married, teaching in Wasilla, and returns with his dad to the site for hard-won closure. A true story of grit, gratitude, and a father's relentless will to save his son. #FightToSurvive #Alaska #SurvivalStory #Rescue #WrangelMountains #FatherAndSon #TrueStory