A group of New Jersey Boy Scouts visiting an upstate New York park rescued NBC News journalist Ann Curry after she broke her leg on a hike, making a splint and carrying the Emmy-winning broadcaster down a steep trail in a makeshift stretcher.
The Scouts, from Troop 368 in Berkeley Heights, were hiking on a rocky trail in Harriman State Park on April 4 when they came across Curry, who was sitting on the ground with one leg out and appeared to be in pain, according to Scouting magazine.
They didn’t initially recognize the former “Today” anchor, but asked if she needed help.
“She said, ‘No, not really. I think I broke my ankle,’” said scouter Rick Jurgens. “She told us to keep going, but the guys refused.”
The Scouts splinted Curry’s leg and tried to carry her down the steep incline. When they realized that wouldn’t work, they made a makeshift stretcher out of sticks and a tarp and tested it to make sure it could bear weight.
Then, according to Scouting, they picked up Curry, put her in the stretcher and carried her to the trail head, where her husband was waiting.
The boys didn’t realize who they had helped until after Curry left, when Jurgens told them that it was the famous journalist.
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A couple of weeks later, Curry sent a letter to each of the Scouts thanking them, saying they went “above the call of duty.” In the letter, she said her leg was broken so severely that it would take 10 to 12 weeks to heal.
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“I feel enormously lucky you came along at just the right moment, and were so willing to help a stranger in need,” Curry wrote.
On Friday, she thanked the troop again in a tweet.
“If you break a leg on a mountain, I hope Boy Scout Troop 368 finds you,” she said. “Boy am I glad they found me.”
If you break a leg on on a mountain, I hope Boy Scout Troop 368 finds you. Boy am I glad they found me. http://t.co/AzTWlFzNcz — Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) May 9, 2014
