75-Year-Old Retired Nurse and Paramedic Spent 14 Hours Crawling Home after Breaking Her Leg
“I can sing at the top of my voice, and no one hears me,” Charlene says, describing one of the many reasons she loves where she lives. She has also made a name for herself in the area. For 25 years, she was the only first responder who lived there. She was a paramedic and then became an ER nurse.
Charlene Kirby’s Career and Hometown Prepared Her for What Happened
Her career and hometown prepared her for a night in June, one she will never forget.
It was July 7th, and Charlene was cleaning brush and weeds from her remote property to prepare for her grandson’s wedding. Then, she had a hard fall. She had hooked up a trailer to a side-by-side to dump what she had cleared. “When I let off the gas, it rolled backwards into the trailer, which jackknifed. So I got out, and I took out some stuff, thinking, 'Well, maybe it's too heavy.' Got back in, still couldn't quite make it over that crest,” she shares.
That was when the side-by-side started running backwards over Charlene. That is when she fell. As a retired nurse, she knew she had broken her femur.
She Screamed but No One Heard Her
She screamed when she did, however, no one heard her. She was between Vail and Steamboat Springs and knew that in order to get help she would have to go back home, one way or another.
“After I got done screaming,” she told Denver 7. “I was laying on my backside, and I thought, 'Well, I can't lay here.' And you're really not supposed to move a [broken] femur, because you could sever your femoral artery.”
God Guided Her Path
She had to get back home, and all she had was herself and God guiding her path.
“In my mind, I was going to get home, I was going to drag myself in my basement and call 911, because I have a phone down there,” she shares.
The night grew colder, she pulled on a sweatshirt, and headed towards home. She crawled for about 14 hours, starting about 7pm that night until 9am the next morning.
She Did it One Inch at a Time
“People asked me if I did the army crawl,” she told ABC7 Chicago, “and I said, ‘No, I think it was more like the inchworm.’”
While on her journey she would tell herself, “you can do one more inch. Nope, do one more inch.” Thankfully, her son found her in the morning. When he did, there was dirt all over her.
Charlene Kirby had surgery on her femur and hip as well as going to rehabilitation. She was able to return home after a month, and the doctor told her she would be able to attend her grandson’s wedding.
When asked how in the world she survived that night, she responds, “There’s no doubt in my mind, because God was with me the whole time.” And we have no doubt that God was watching over her during her 14 hour adventure back home. We wish her well as she continues to recover from the ordeal.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10
WATCH: Charlene Kirby Crawled for 14 Hours after Breaking Her Femur!
This content originally appeared on GodTube.com; used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/ABC7
Originally published August 21, 2025.
