Brian M. Wood & Stine Rossel(2007)

新婚夫妇Stine Rossel and Brian M. Wood山顶游玩，坠入悬崖命悬一线 怀特山脉the White Mountains位于新罕布什尔州和缅因州交界处the Boulder Loop Trail in Albany, N.H. 　　2007年10月23日早上，新婚夫妇伍德·达威尔Brian Wood和斯坦因·比妮Stine Rossel相约徒步去美国著名的原始山林保护区怀特山脉游玩。 a pair of Harvard graduate students 今年32岁的新娘比妮是美国哈佛大学考古学专业在读女博士，还有一个月毕业， 新郎达威尔小比妮一岁，是哈佛大学经济学专业三年级研究生， 两人于2007年8月15日结婚。 　　下午3点多钟，达威尔和比妮到达一座高达千米的山崖上。 此时，他们看到悬崖边有一棵姿态优美的油松，达威尔卸下登山包，请妻子为自己单独拍照， 为了取得更好的拍摄角度，达威尔坐到一个斜伸出来的树枝上摆姿势。 此刻，达威尔所坐的树枝突然断裂，还没等他反应过来，身体就摇晃着向后倒去，随即坠入了悬崖。 　　比妮被这可怕的一幕惊呆了，但很快就醒过神来，她惊恐地大叫丈夫的名字， 同时往悬崖边靠近，探头向下张望，几乎在这同时，她听到了丈夫那熟悉的声音在断续地呼唤她的名字。 比妮激动不已，低头一看，发现丈夫被一根斜伸出来的山藤挂住了，山藤从峭壁上长出，主干足有碗口粗，虬枝盘伸。 而达威尔面部朝上，左手紧紧地抓住山藤，右手无力地下垂着，双脚本能地勾在山藤上。 他的身下就是深达千米的深谷。此时，比妮大声鼓励他要坚持住，她会救他上来的。 　　此处的山区地势险要，三面绝壁，比妮根本无法靠近达威尔。 这时，手机是唯一的呼救工具，比妮赶紧拿出放在背包里的手机，值得庆幸的是，他们所处的地方是国家风景区，手机都有信号。 比妮连忙拨打美国高山联合救援中心的求救电话，当救援中心工作人员询问比妮所处的具体位置时， 比妮无法说清楚，救援人员只得派出直升机沿山崖进行逐个搜寻排查。 　　此时，受了重伤的达威尔一直挂在那根藤条上，左腿上的灰白色运动裤已被撕开，腿上一条长长的伤口正往外冒着鲜血。 此时已是下午4点钟，天色逐渐黯淡下来。比妮不愿眼巴巴地坐等救援，她决定把达威尔救上来。 　　妻子下悬崖救夫遇险，谁生谁死面临痛苦抉择 　　比妮打开达威尔的背包取出一条登山绳索，打算放下绳索让达威尔爬上来，可是达威尔告诉比妮他的右手已经骨折，根本就无法用力。 比妮想了想，决定采取制作树梯的方法接近达威尔，这样，自己不仅有机会下去为丈夫包扎伤口，还可以扶助他顺着梯子爬到山顶。 她来到大树旁，用随身携带的瑞士军刀锯将一些树枝锯下来，并把树枝截成多个长短一致的短棍，然后将带来的绳索剪断扎成树梯。 　　树梯做好后，比妮又砍了几条又长又粗的藤条，用这些藤条把树梯绑在大树上固定下来。 此时，天空下起了小雨，山地变得滑滑的。比妮把梯子沿着靠近达威尔一侧的崖壁放了下去，随后顺着树梯往下走。 　　看到比妮踩着树梯下来了，达威尔吃力地喊道：“比妮，不要下来，太危险了！”达威尔并没有劝退比妮。 担心看到深谷会产生恐慌心理而影响下梯安全，比妮极力抬头朝上看，脚下探踩树梯慢慢下行，每下行一步她就停下来深深吸一口气。由于沾上了雨水，藤条的表面很光滑，对没有受过专业训练的人来说，要顺着藤条慢慢下行是很艰难的，稍有不慎就可能失足坠入悬崖。 　　大约过了20分钟，比妮终于平安靠近了山藤。 “达威尔，亲爱的，你还好吗？”比妮眼里闪着泪花。 达威尔担忧地说：“比妮，这太危险了，你不该下来的。” “达威尔，我们一起爬上去。”比妮向丈夫伸出一只手，试图拉着丈夫登上树梯，可是，丈夫的状况远比她想象的糟糕。 达威尔已经在山藤上挂了二十多分钟了，左腿的伤口还在往外冒血，右手已经无法动弹，流血和剧烈的断骨疼痛将他折磨得生不如死，即便是爱妻帮助他，他依靠一只手也根本无法爬梯上山。 　　当比妮看到达威尔的腿部伤口还在流血时，她决定靠近丈夫，用携带的止血药和纱布给丈夫包扎伤口。比妮从树梯上把一只脚探到达威尔攀住的山藤干上，缩着身子小心翼翼地骑坐在藤干上，从包里取出预留的几截绳索把达威尔的双腿和腰部绑在藤干上，比妮这样做可以保护他不会掉下悬崖。做完这一切后，比妮拿出止血药小心翼翼地涂抹在达威尔的腿部伤口上，并用纱布包扎好。 　　就在比妮想办法为丈夫固定手臂断骨时，他们听到树梯被山风来回吹打到崖壁上发出“啪啪”的响声，很快，树梯绑结点的绳子松散开来，几个横木陆续掉了下来，其它大部分横木也陆续散架掉落。比妮惊恐地看着丈夫哭了起来：“我的上帝，这可怎么办？” 　　由于达威尔失血过多，再加上体力消耗很大，甚至要失去抓握藤干的力气了，而且雨还在下，山里的气温越来越低。比妮脱掉上衣，盖在冻得发抖的丈夫身上御寒、遮雨。就在达威尔和比妮等待救援时，由于长时间的重负，加上狂风的吹摇，支撑他们的山藤开始慢慢下垂，植根于山崖峭壁上的藤根部出现山土脱落现象，这让达威尔夫妇紧张万分。比妮的脸色吓得煞白，她紧紧抓住达威尔的手臂问道：“这棵山藤不能承受我们的重量，它很快要被连根拔起，我们都将失去生命，上帝啊，怎么会这样啊？” 把生的希望留给丈夫，博士妻子赴死救夫情动美国 　　危险再次降临，达威尔努力保持清醒的状态，鼓励比妮说：“比妮，相信好运与我们同在！” 比妮绝望地哭了起来：“仁慈的上帝啊，如果你真的存在，就请再多给我们一点时间吧，我们不想走啊……” 达威尔柔声说道：“比妮，我们会得救的，坚持下去，我们都会活下去，我们还要生宝宝呢，一起开着车去度假……” 此时，达威尔骤然歇斯底里地大喊：“谁来救救我们啊？” 比妮亲吻着达威尔的手背泪如泉涌：“可能等不到别人来救我们了，只有自己救自己了……不论发生什么事情，我永远爱你……” 　　此时，山藤根部的石块下落得更快了，根部周围的岩石还出现了裂缝，山藤已经无法再承受两个人的重量，情况越来越危急。 　　达威尔稳了稳神，悲戚地对比妮说：“比妮，你听我说，现在我己身受重伤，活下去也是个废人……我们两个不能全部死去，必须有一个人活着……”说着，达威尔请求比妮把他腿上的绳索解开。 比妮顿时明白了达威尔的心意，她死死地拉住丈夫，用力握着他那双手，忍不住悲声大哭：“不！你还年轻啊，你必须活下去……” 达威尔心痛得说不出话来。 此刻，比妮出奇的平静，她红肿着眼圈恳求丈夫说：“亲爱的达威尔，没有时间再争了，答应我，你要活下去……下辈子，我还做你的妻子！” 达威尔浑身剧烈地颤抖起来，大口喘息着说：“别这样，情况并不是那么悲观，还没到告别的时候……” 比妮沉默了一下，忽然松开双手纵身一跃，向1000米的深谷飘落而下……山藤减负后，根基的石块慢慢地不再脱落了。 达威尔歇斯底里的悲呼：“不！比妮，不要走啊，比妮……” 　　下午4点30分，救援直升机经过逐个山头搜寻后，终于出现在达威尔的头顶上空…… 　　当天傍晚，救援人员打开探照灯在山崖谷底寻找比妮踪迹，祈祷着上帝能创造奇迹。 经过近三个小时的搜索，救援人员终于在谷底的一条山涧旁找到了比妮，此时她已经血肉模糊，惨不忍睹。 令人动容的是，她的左手死死地攥着一样东西，救援人员费了很大的劲才掰开，原来，她的手心里攥着为丈夫包扎伤口用过的半截纱布…… 　　经过抢救，达威尔保住了生命，并很快恢复了健康。 为了纪念妻子，达威尔把名字改成阿曼德·斯坦因·达威尔，把爱妻的名字放进了自己的名字中。 他还和父母商议，全家搬到岳父母家附近住下来，以便他能经常去探望照顾岳父岳母，替比妮尽孝道。 　　比妮舍身救夫的故事经《芝加哥论坛报》等多家媒体报道后，在全美引起了强烈反响。 众多美国民众纷纷前往比妮的母校，饱含着热泪献上鲜花来缅怀这位伟大的妻子，并称她是“美国女性的骄傲”。 -------------------- Newlyweds' perfect hike ends in tragedy By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | October 23, 2007 They were newlyweds spending a brilliant autumn day hiking through the White Mountains, a pair of Harvard graduate students enjoying the foliage of the northern woods. When Brian Wood and Stine Rossel sat on a fallen tree at the top of a crest, they thought they had found the perfect perch to view the fall colors. Then, from the simplest act - a picnic in the woods - a bizarre, rapid-fire series of events led to unimaginable tragedy Saturday. "We had a nice bench seat on this log looking over the beautiful fall colors," Wood said, occasionally sobbing during a telephone interview yesterday. "We just wanted to sit and have a picnic and enjoy the colors. . . . We were just like newlyweds should be." Wood said he "scooted over" to be closer to his new wife, then heard a snapping sound - the tree breaking at its roots. In a flash, the part of the tree where they were sitting shifted, sending the couple tumbling down the hill. The tree rolled down on top of them, slamming into Rossel's head and knocking her unconscious. First, Wood furiously tried administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation to his wife, then was helped by a stranger, a nurse, who happened to be on the trail. By the time paramedics arrived on the scene, all they could do was pronounce Rossel, 32, dead. "She did not suffer," Wood said, fighting back tears. "I think it should be said it was a freak accident. It just doesn't make any sense." Officials at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said the couple was hiking along the Boulder Loop Trail in Albany, N.H., when the accident occurred. "There was nothing that rescue personnel could do to help her," said Jane Vachon, a spokeswoman for the department. "The log rolled over on top of her and crushed her. It's just an unexpected thing." Rossel's death, a month short of when she was due to receive her doctorate in archeology, stunned her professors and classmates at Harvard, almost all of whom recalled her as an intelligent and adventurous woman. Zinovi Matskevich, an anthropology graduate student who shared an office with Rossel, said Rossel gathered with friends at a Cambridge pub Friday night. "She was extremely happy" Matskevich said. "She got married to the man she loved. She finished her PhD. She was full of plans. Who could have guessed it was her last evening?" Wood said he fell in love with his wife when he first saw her at Harvard's Peabody Museum three years ago. He asked her to marry him while on a safari in Tanzania. The couple wedded Aug. 18 at the Scandinavian home of Karen Blixen, author of "Out of Africa," under her pen name, Isak Dinesen. Nearing the end of her graduate studies, Rossel had been working as an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen in her native Denmark. She was visiting her husband at Harvard and was scheduled to fly back to Europe on Sunday. The plan was for Wood, 31, to move in January to Denmark, where the couple would live and raise a family together. "She was an absolutely lovely person, and that's not said because she has passed away," her academic advisor, Richard H. Meadow, said in a phone interview. "She was quite literally a beacon, a constant ray of sun piercing even the grayest and most sullen Cambridge weather," wrote three fellow graduate students, Cheryl Makarewicz, Benjamin Arbuckle and Joshua Wright, in an e-mail to the Globe. Rossel had camped near lions in the Serengeti plains of Africa, labored under the hot sun of remote Egyptian archeology digs, and crisscrossed the turbulent Mideast without difficulty, but lost her life on a picnic in New Hampshire, her husband said. Wood said a memorial service is planned for Thursday at Harvard's Memorial Church in Cambridge. A foundation in her name will be created, he said. "She was like the sun," Wood said of his wife. "It's like the sun disappearing from the sky." © Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company. ------------------------ A 32-year-old anthropology graduate student died Saturday in a hiking accident in New Hampshire. Stine Rossel suffered a fatal head injury when a log gave way and slid downhill, rolling over Rossel and her husband. Her husband, Brian M. Wood, who is a graduate student in biological anthropology, was not seriously hurt. Rossel was in her eighth year at Harvard. She recently completed her dissertation on the animal exploitation practices of two different communities in the Nile Valley, analyzing animal bones from two archaeological sites. “She was always very excited to see the day’s finds, and ran out every day to greet the donkey cart when it came in from the site,” said University of Pennsylvania professor Josef W. Wegner, who conducted research with Rossel in Egypt. “It was wonderful to have such a sparkling personality out in the Egyptian desert,” he said. Rossel, who is a Danish citizen, had also conducted field research in Syria, Turkey, and Sudan, said one of her advisers at Harvard, Richard H. Meadow ’68. Rossel came to Harvard after receiving her bachelor’s degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1999. She earned a master’s in anthropology in 2002 and would have graduated this November. She met Wood while at Harvard, and the two were married last summer, according to fellow archaeology graduate student Parker Van Valkenburgh. Rossel had flown to the United States to visit Wood a few days before the accident occurred, Van Valkenburgh said. Rossel had a post-doctoral position at the University of Copenhagen. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America David Carrasco called her a “deeply valued member” of the Anthropology Department’s archaeology wing, mentioning her “bright humor.” “Our community of learners is stricken and we are struggling together to make sense of this,” Carrasco wrote in an e-mailed statement. -------------------- Name Released in Tragic Hiker Death in White Mountains CONCORD, N.H. - The name of the 32-year-old Danish woman who was killed in a tragic accident in the White Mountain National Forest on Saturday, October 20, has been released. Stine Rossel, a Danish citizen and a professor at the University of Copenhagen, had been hiking with her husband Brian Wood, of Somerville, Massachusetts, who is a graduate student at Harvard University. They had been married just two months. The incident occurred about 3 p.m., about a mile and a half in on the Boulder Loop Trail in Albany, N.H. on a steep section of the trail. Wood and Rossel were on a day hike and had stopped for lunch, sitting on a deteriorating log that was about 2 -1/2 feet in diameter. A 20-foot section of the log broke off under their weight, and they slipped down in front of it as it rolled down the steep hillside. The log hit both hikers, but struck Rossel in the head, neck and chest, killing her. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were called shortly after 3 p.m. Wood had performed CPR on his wife, assisted by another hiker, a nurse, who happened to be nearby, but they were not able to resuscitate her. Paramedics who arrived on the scene pronounced Rossel deceased. Wood was able to walk out on his own with the rescuers. "This was a most tragic accident," said Lt. James Goss of N.H. Fish and Game Law Enforcement. "Her husband is just devastated." Fish and Game officers were assisted by rescue personnel from the North Conway and Conway fire departments. No further information is available at this time.