Post by RumiDude on Mar 3, 2023 18:09:18 GMT -8
So I thought I would post this here as a way to introduce a bit of knowledge about and often unknown issue that can affect hikers/backpackers. I will imbed two video about it from a couple of "professional" YouTube backpackers about the incident. I have a love/hate relationship with most professional YTers in general and outdoor related YTers in particular. More about that later in Post Script.
Anyway, the whole gist of the story is that the one backpacker that needed rescue was Dan Becker, a well known YouTube backpacker of sorts. L He thought he was either having altitude sickness or a heart attack. Instead what he had was rhabdomyolysis, or just rhabdo for short. "Rhabdo can occur from any type of muscle damage. This includes accidents, heat, overuse, or other causes. Rhabdo is the breakdown of damaged muscle which results in the release of muscle cell contents into the blood. The proteins and electrolytes released into the blood can cause organ damage."
In the videos they say that rhabdo is rare, but in reality it isn't that rare. I have known several people who got rhabdo, all of them due to overexertion. It is not common, but it happens enough to athletes especially. It is true that many people are totally unaware of it. It is something to think about, especially as people age, they become more vulnerable to it, mainly because they still think they are that young power person they picture themselves to be and so they push themselves too hard. And though it is more common in situations of excess heat, as in this case it can happen in the winter. Rhabdo is serious! It can cause permanent organ damage, especially to the kidneys, and death can result.
The story of the video is that these backpackers attempted a Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trip in winter conditions. On their way up from the river to the North Rim Dan Becker started having issues. they made it to the North Rim and set up camp, but early the next morning they called for rescue evacuation for Dan Becker. They took him out via the road using a front loader to plow and then ambulance to a small town in Utah where he stayed for three days. Anyway, I will embed the videos below. They are both kinda longish, IMO. I would suggest playing them at X2 to get through them quickly if you care to watch.
If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask. I have tried to summarize the videos as well as what rhabdo is.
Dan Becker's video ...
Backpacking TV's video ...
Rumi
PS: One reason I am often disappointed with "professional" backpacker/hike YouTube individuals and their channels is that in almost inevitably devolves into repetitive crap. They generally feel forced to put out regular videos and that ends up watering down their content and sometimes just plain silliness. Also it often ends up leading to misinformation due to the pressures of having to put out so much content. YouTube encourages this by their policies and suggested practices. If a channel refuses to follow YouTube's suggestions, their videos fall out of favor with the algorithm. YMMV
Anyway, the whole gist of the story is that the one backpacker that needed rescue was Dan Becker, a well known YouTube backpacker of sorts. L He thought he was either having altitude sickness or a heart attack. Instead what he had was rhabdomyolysis, or just rhabdo for short. "Rhabdo can occur from any type of muscle damage. This includes accidents, heat, overuse, or other causes. Rhabdo is the breakdown of damaged muscle which results in the release of muscle cell contents into the blood. The proteins and electrolytes released into the blood can cause organ damage."
In the videos they say that rhabdo is rare, but in reality it isn't that rare. I have known several people who got rhabdo, all of them due to overexertion. It is not common, but it happens enough to athletes especially. It is true that many people are totally unaware of it. It is something to think about, especially as people age, they become more vulnerable to it, mainly because they still think they are that young power person they picture themselves to be and so they push themselves too hard. And though it is more common in situations of excess heat, as in this case it can happen in the winter. Rhabdo is serious! It can cause permanent organ damage, especially to the kidneys, and death can result.
The story of the video is that these backpackers attempted a Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trip in winter conditions. On their way up from the river to the North Rim Dan Becker started having issues. they made it to the North Rim and set up camp, but early the next morning they called for rescue evacuation for Dan Becker. They took him out via the road using a front loader to plow and then ambulance to a small town in Utah where he stayed for three days. Anyway, I will embed the videos below. They are both kinda longish, IMO. I would suggest playing them at X2 to get through them quickly if you care to watch.
If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask. I have tried to summarize the videos as well as what rhabdo is.
Dan Becker's video ...
Backpacking TV's video ...
Rumi
PS: One reason I am often disappointed with "professional" backpacker/hike YouTube individuals and their channels is that in almost inevitably devolves into repetitive crap. They generally feel forced to put out regular videos and that ends up watering down their content and sometimes just plain silliness. Also it often ends up leading to misinformation due to the pressures of having to put out so much content. YouTube encourages this by their policies and suggested practices. If a channel refuses to follow YouTube's suggestions, their videos fall out of favor with the algorithm. YMMV
