Mike Skidmore was hiking along Avalanche Creek in Glacier National Park with 20 family members on Sunday, July 6, 2025, when they noticed something wasn’t right.
A group of four visitors from Florida were gathering for a photo on the rocks above Avalanche Gorge when one of them slipped and fell into the water, and a second and third person trying to help also fell in.
Two of the individuals were swept through the gorge while one was able to grab ahold of tree branches in the gorge, waiting for help.
“I saw up above my brother talking to a young gal and could tell he suddenly had a look of fear or like something needed to happen right away and he yelled down and said hey there’s people in the water down there let’s go help them,” said Skidmore.
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Mike’s brother relayed information that two people had fallen off a rock into the water and were submerged underneath, while a third person was able to grab ahold of tree branches in the gorge.
“We immediately turned around and ran and jumped into the water, didn’t really know what we were looking for at that point.”
Mike, his brother, and his nephew began searching in chest-high near-freezing water.
They found the first person totally submerged: “So we had to help each other to get her out, and then, my brother is a doctor, he started CPR right away.”
They found the second person fully submerged in deeper water.
“Luckily two other men had shown up and kind of held hands across the more shallow part of the river and were able to support my nephew and I to get him up onto the shore and then I started CPR on him right away.”
Mike is a dentist and is CPR certified.
He said that training helped him stay calm while trying to save a life.
“The wife responded to CPR probably within the first minute, started coughing and some you know kind of guttural breaths, so she was almost partly revived by the time we got her husband up on the shore, it took a few minutes, probably 3 to 5 minutes of CPR to get him going.”
First responders were able to rescue the third person by rappelling down into the gorge and bringing him to safety.
Mike and his families quick action saved two lives.
“Obviously we knew we were in some risk to ourselves, but I think we all kind of agreed that we knew the limit of not to turn into a victim ourselves but still be able to help them, so it was just no question to jump right in.”
