SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah woman is critically injured but thankful to be alive after a boulder the size of a small car came loose from a cliff above her families house, crashing through her bedroom wall, and hitting her while she slept. Wanda Denhalter has to eat out of a straw because her broken jaw is wired shut, and it’s painful to laugh, cough, blow her nose or sit up because of a broken sternum, said her husband, Scot Denhalter. The 63-year-old woman also has three layers of stitches on a gash that stretches from her knee to her ankle, he said. But considering how close she came to being crushed to death, she’s feeling blessed, he said. “She’s definitely lucky, no doubt about it,” Scot Denhalter said. “She’s very grateful.” Wanda Denhalter was sleeping alone Saturday at 3 a.m. when a 12-by-9-foot boulder came barreling through the wall of her St. George home, after breaking off from a cliff above the house, Scot Denhalter said. He was sleeping at his son’s house to make room for visitors that never arrived. Though Wanda Denhalter survived, the boulder did plenty of damage to the Dixie State College teacher. She was in surgery for four hours at the St. George hospital, as doctors stitched up a gash that went to the bone. She yelled for help, but nobody came because she was the only one in the three-house cul-de-sac. She fumbled through the house until she found the phone, and dialed 911. There were bloody footprints inside and on the driveway and a 3-foot pool of blood where she sat waiting for the ambulance, Scot Denhalter said.
1Law is glad to hear that Ms. Denhalter will be okay after suffering through this tragic event. If anything like this ever happens to you or someone you know please contact the personal injury lawyers of Utah so they can assist you with any claim you may have.
