This summer, on June 3, unaware of the danger that awaited her, sophomore Natalie Craney went hiking at Monte Sano Mountain with her friends, sophomores Lee Bowden, Matt Houston and junior Hailey Conquest. Little did they know, their hiking trip would turn into disaster.

When they were hiking, Craney slipped and fell off the Mountain.

“We were just trying to find something fun to do during the summer and then I fell. Falling felt almost like it was in slow motion. You couldn’t really feel anything except the slow motion of it. I wasn’t even concerned about the fact that I fell. I was mostly scared of this spider in the bush I fell in,” Craney said.

Bowden along with Houston and Conquest quickly acted to rescue Craney, however, as soon as Houston, Craney’s boyfriend, jumped down to help her, he injured himself as well.

“Matt wasn’t the first one to jump down and help me, but when he did jump he tore muscles, ligaments, tendons and his ankle. Lee was the first down because he was already down there. Matt and Lee thought I was going to die but for some reason Hailey and I both knew I wasn’t going to die. I tried to get up and Lee kept yelling at me not to. He told me to keep my eyes open because if I had had a concussion, I could have died,” Craney said.

After her friends lifted her out of the bush, they helped her walk for two miles back to the car. Bowden was supporting Craney’s back, Houston was holding her hands and Conquest looked out for rocks so they would not trip.

“We didn’t call my mom until two hours later and my mom didn’t answer. Lee was supporting my back in case I was to fall again and Matt was holding my hands in case I were to slip backwards,” Craney said.

As soon as they got off the mountain, they helped Craney into Lee’s car and drove to Huntsville Hospital. Craney was put in the ICU and where she stayed in the hospital for three days.

“I had a punctured lung, a lacerated liver, a couple of broken ribs, a fractured c7 in my neck, two cracked vertebrae in my lower back and then a lot of the little wings on my spinal cord had broken off. I was on every single pain medicine they could give me, like morphine and muscle relaxers,” Craney said.

Craney’s injuries will most likely become an issue for her in the future but she remains optimistic.

“My injuries definitely hurt when it gets cold. I’m probably going to have arthritis and I’ll probably just have an awfully sore neck. If I laugh too hard, my ribs hurt. I had a neck brace on for two months and I had to learn how to walk again,” Craney said.

Bowden, along with Houston and Conquest, stayed with Craney in her room at the hospital, helping her through the days.

“After this experience, I have learned that life is too short. You can’t take life for granted,” Bowden said.

Houston believes that the experience has changed him, claiming it has made him and his friends better people. He says that it has almost made them like family.

“I was kind of speechless when Natalie fell. I wasn’t sure what to do. Now I think that it made all four of us closer friends and we spent all summer together. We learned to love each other,” Houston said.

Craney is no longer in a neck brace and even after the fall she is still upbeat. Her friends and family feel that her injuries could have been a lot worse. They are thankful that she is healthy and well.

“I think I learned that next time I go hiking I need to be more careful. I definitely need to have someone hold my hands too. I’m really thankful that my family and friends were there for me and helped me push through it,” Craney said.