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My niece is a bit of a wild child, you could say. Always pushing the limits; of life, herself, and those around her. She believes she is invincible, as most 16 year olds do; only hers comes with a certain brand of “I don’t give a f_ck” that most teenagers don’t have.

I got off work early yesterday, and the weather here has been so beautiful we were planning on going out and about in order to enjoy it once I got home. We hadn’t completely decided what we were going to do yet and were in the process of discussing it when the phone rang. It was my brother-in-law. Apparently my niece had had some sort of accident on the quad and he needed J’s help getting the quad out. He said it was wrapped around a tree.

All sorts of images ran through our heads. Of course, the first question was of her well being. Sure, sure, she was ok. Bumped, bruised and a little shaken up, but otherwise fine. Great! That’s good news. So, the quad must not be that bad off. I am envisioning a Sonny Bono scene if it had truly been wrapped around a tree. Since she was ok, I couldn’t imagine the quad being truly one with a tree.

When we arrived, he took us down to the creek and there it was. The massive utility quad was very nearly wrapped around a tree, hanging precariously above the water at an awkward angle. The only thing that kept her and the quad from dropping six feet into the shallow creek was that tree. A little tree mind you. No much bigger around than my thigh. It was that tree that was holding that quad up out of the water now too. But for how long?

BIL’s John Deer was pulled out and the planning began. The tow rope (although not really a rope, nor a cord – not sure what you would call what they used, but anyhow) was attached to the rear axle of the quad and to the tractor. The Little John Deer that could. Seriously. Yet, upon first tug of that tractor, the quad rolled onto it’s side and began it’s decent into the creek. The angle was obscure, stopping all rescue attempts immediately. In comes the hero, of sorts, my boy. He jumps into the creek, the muddy soggy bottom creek, and begins to move that 350lb quad from its side to a more upright position. I say “more upright” not because of his inability to turn it completely upright, but because of the quads odd angle, nose down, left front tire tucked beneath its own body weight position as it hung from the tow rope thingy. Riley pushed and shoved with all of his might to get it topside up, and then had to pull and lift the front end up in order to put it into a position that might possibly allow the tractor to pull it up and over the edge of the cliff. The fear was we were going to lose the quad to the creek all together and we’d never get it out should that happen. Riley wasn’t about to let that quad go to waste like that! Especially since he has been wanting one of his own for so long! This quad was/is as close as he’s going to get for now. So, he pulled upon his inner HeMan and moved that damned thing into position so that BIL could pull it out.

Pulling it out didn’t prove too easy of a task either! He would pull, and pull and that damned quad would barely move. The earth beneath the rear tires was doing its very best to keep that quad where it was resting by building up behind the tires and not giving way to the forces created by the tractor and the quad. J and my niece began to pull on the quad from the backside while my BIL pulled with the tractor. Riley planted firmly in the creek below the monster and pushed from the front end. It took several attempts but finally, the earth did give way to the inertia and out popped that quad in one jerk of a motion.

Of course, I stood by and took pictures of every step of the rescue mission. That’s what I do best. Document such life events through photography. Hey, peeps dig it later when they are reminiscing you know.

My niece had some guardian angels with her yesterday. It’s a miracle she is alive.

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