Click here for updates on this story
Phoenix, AZ (KPHO KTVK) — A hike for a good cause nearly turned deadly for a Phoenix pastor and his daughter while the two were trekking on the Arizona Trail.
Dream City Church Senior Pastor Luke Barnett and his daughter, 20-year-old Annalee, were hiking the 800 miles to raise money for the Colorado City Dream Center, which helps victims of polygamy and human trafficking. It’s run out of the former compound of the infamous polygamist Warren Jeffs.
“We made a commitment. And there’s (sic) churches all across America who have sponsored us to finish this trail,” Pastor Barnett said.
The hike started on Sept. 27, and things had been going well.
“Our plan was to do it in 40 days. Twenty miles every single day,” Luke Barnett said.
But 500 miles in on Halloween, there was trouble on the trail.
“They’re estimating this boulder was about 8 to 10,000 pounds,” Luke Barnett said.
As they scrambled into a wash, the two dislodged a boulder. The pastor pushed his daughter away right before it fell on him.
“It broke my forearm. It broke three of my ribs. It broke my femur. And my hip,” Luke Barnett said.
Annalee Barnett used her first aid skills to stabilize her dad.
“Asked me all the right questions at the time. ‘Can you feel your feet? Can you feel your hands?'” Luke Barnett said.
And Annalee Barnett called in rescuers using a satellite phone.
“I remember saying to her right before the chopper picked me up, ‘This hike has to go on. We can’t stop. You’re going to have to finish this thing all by yourself,'” Luke Barnett said.
Annalee Barnett took her father’s message to heart. Along with a new hiking partner, she is now scheduled to finish the Arizona Trail this Saturday, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for women in need in the process.
“We called the whole campaign ‘Adventure Your Life,’ but it turned into being, really, the miracle of our life that we’re even alive today,” Luke Barnett said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.