Sydney Linden would like to identify her trail angel, a man named Evan who carried her a half mile on the Adobe Jack Trail to her friend’s car after she broke her shinbone while running on April 17.
Linden didn’t catch Evan’s last name before the two parted ways — she to the emergency room and he back down the trail to retrieve his mountain bike.
But since the injury, Linden has been thinking about how the man’s assistance turned out to be “a true blessing that day,” helping her get through a frightening moment.
She’s posted on community bulletin boards to try to locate the 30-something Colorado resident, who told her he is in the U.S. Air Force and is currently visiting his mother in Sedona.
So far she hasn’t been able to locate the semi-anonymous Good Samaritan who carried her, cradle and piggyback-style, off the trail.
Linden, a massage therapist, said she had been running frequently on the Adobe Jack Trail in recent weeks to stay in working shape since being laid off due to COVID-19 closures.
Linden isn’t sure exactly what happened, but about a half mile from the Adobe Jack trailhead something went horribly wrong with a stride, and her knee hyperextended. Later, doctors told her she fractured her tibial plateau, an area of bone just below the knee.
Linden described the pain at the time as a 15 on a scale of one to 10.
Besides the pain, “I was really mad at myself, frustrated. I usually take care of people; it’s not the other way around,” Linden said.
When an injury occurs on a trail, first responders recommend making contact with 911 immediately and coordinating with them to get off the trail in the safest way.
But Linden’s first thought was to call a friend to help her off the trail. While Linden was waiting for her friend, Evan came down the trail on his bike and stopped to help and wait with her.
“He didn’t hesitate,” Linden said, adding that Evan was “super sweet and very personable. All around it felt really good to talk to him.”
Linden’s friend got lost while trying to find her, and, eventually, with the swelling in her leg increasing, Evan asked if he could carry Linden to the parking lot.
Linden said Evan helped make the potentially awkward journey calm and comfortable.
Linden is currently recovering from leg surgery she had earlier this week to fix the injury and expects a three- to four-month recovery. She’s hoping that during that time she’ll be able to find her trail hero again, say thank you and maybe buy him dinner.
