The elderly hiker trapped in a spinning basket as she was rescued from Arizona's Piestewa Peak Tuesday morning continues to recover in a Phoenix hospital.
Seventy-four-year-old Katalin Metro's ordeal began when she fell on the hiking trail, breaking her nose and injuring her leg.
Her husband, George Metro, says she is still feeling nauseated and dizzy after she spun 174 times during the mountain rescue gone wrong and captured in the now-viral video. "So she hasn't been able to get out of bed. You know, I'm just hopeful the doctors and medical people can get her back on her feet as soon as possible. That's what we're all wishing for."
When crews arrived, they decided to airlift Katalin because she complained of hip pain, and they didn't want to make any potential injury worse.
That's when her frightening ride in the basket began.
Metro said he watched from the ground and that firefighters nearby were in shock at the spinning and how long it went on.
“They, just one of them, said, ‘Oh my gosh,'” Metro said. “I think they were waiting for the spinning to stop just like I was.”
Phoenix fire officials say they used an extra line and preventative measures against the spinning, but this time it didn't work.
Officials say it's rare to see the basket spin. Of the 210 hoist rescues they've conducted in the last six years officials say the spinning issue has only happened twice.
Read more: http://bit.ly/2K2YbBI
