10/28/2026
She packed her van for a bike ride. She ended up 70 feet up a cliff, holding a stranger's life in her hands.
On November 26, 2022, River Barry, a 30 year old mental health therapist from Millcreek, Utah, was in a parking lot in Moab's Kane Creek Canyon, getting ready to ride.
During a BASE jumping festival, a 39 year old Australian leapt from a 400 foot cliff. His parachute opened the wrong way and slammed him into the rock. His leg was badly broken. His chute caught on a small k**b of sandstone, and he hung there, 70 feet above the ground.
His friend ran up asking for climbing gear. River had it in her van.
She raced to the wall and found a crack leading straight to him. With his friend belaying from below, she climbed crumbling rock she said had never been climbed. Halfway up, she heard him breathing and shouted, "I'm coming for you."
She clipped him to her harness, cut away his parachute lines, and was lowered to the ground carrying his weight .Rescuers were waiting.
Search and Rescue had planned a long rappel from the top. River got him down first.
He survived and recovered. She later flew to Australia to visit him.
The Grand County Sheriff's Office gave her a Lifesaving Award, and in 2024 she received the Carnegie Medal, North America's highest civilian honor for heroism.
She was only going for a ride. She came home a hero. 🇺🇸
