Meeker man injured in snowmobile accident

MEEKER | Rodney Dunham, 47, of Meeker suffered serious injuries Sunday in a snowmobile accident

near Meadow Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness.
According to his mother, Diane, Dunham and another snowmobiler collided, knocking Dunham off his sled.
He was fortunate to be snowmobiling with a group of people with some medical traning and experience, she said. They didn’t move him, built a fire and used handheld finger and toe warmers and a space blanket to keep him warm until search and rescue could get to him.
It was about three hours before search and rescue was able to get him out. The fixed wing medical airplane that services St. Mary’s Hospital was on a return flight from Denver at the time and landed at the Meeker Aiport. Dunham was flown straight to St. Mary’s Sunday afternoon.
He suffered a break in his lower back and pinched his spinal cord in his neck. He has since undergone two surgeries to repair the break and to release compression on the spinal cord.
The fact he was in the snow and cold may have been a benefit by reducing swelling that could have further damaged his nerves.
“Search and rescue was wonderful and the people with him were amazing,” Diane Dunham said Wednesday. “This community shows so much support it’s overwhelming.”
She said he was “doing a little better” as of Wednesday morning, and doctors were working to get his pain under control. They’ve been told his recovery will be a long, slow process, and “how much (function) will come back, time will tell.”