PAROWAN, Iron County — Justin Harris, 34, never forgets the crushing injury to his left leg that nearly killed him three years ago and the heroic efforts of his younger brother, Jeremy, 30, to save him.

The story of the accident, and the subsequent loss of Justin's lower left leg, will be retold in the season premiere of the Discovery Channel series "I Shouldn't Be Alive," in an episode titled "Nightmare Canyon." The program will air Nov. 10.

"I have flashbacks all the time — during the fall, especially, because that's when things went wrong," Justin Harris said during a recent interview at his home in Parowan with his wife, Tricia, while four of their five children were at school. "When that stuff comes back to me, I really feel like I was completely blessed. It's very emotional."

Justin and Jeremy Harris were hiking in the San Rafael Swell on a chilly mid-November weekend with plans to complete a loop through three challenging canyons. The brothers carried plenty of supplies, technical rappelling gear and a camera to record their adventure for future bragging rights.

The hike was going well, and the two men rappelled down a narrow slot canyon, dropping 20 feet to 80 feet at a time. A large boulder choked off access to the bottom, so Justin carefully edged his body over the massive rock. Then he lost his footing and began a frightening slide down the slick rock.

"I thought if I jumped, I could miss the pool of water below and hit the bank, but I missed it and shattered my left leg," he said.

Jeremy rappelled down to his brother, and the two knew the break was life-threatening. It was getting dark fast, and the temperature was dropping rapidly.

"There was a lot of screaming, but then we calmed down a bit. Jeremy told me, 'If you've got any prayers left in you, now would be a good time for it,'" said Justin. "It was the first time we'd prayed together in years and years, since we were kids. We prayed and cried. Then we realized there was only one thing to do. He had to go for help."

Food and equipment were divvied up, based on who would most need it, and Jeremy headed out of the canyon as the sun began to dip below the horizon. Before they split up, Jeremy and Justin took photos of each other.

Jeremy looks cold and determined in his picture, while Justin is trying to look brave as he sits on the frigid ground. There's something else in Justin's photo, too. Something he can't explain. Just to the side, taking up about a third of the photo, is a white, wispy figure that appears to be leaning toward him.

"I don't know what it is. Maybe it's my guardian angel," Justin says now as he shows the photo to visitors. "I really thought I might die there."

The two men expected that it would take Jeremy about 12 hours of hiking to find help. Justin settled in for what he thought would be one bitter-cold night alone. But it turned out to be two nights. Jeremy, who has had an artificial hip since he was 15 years old, struggled on his way, lost his sense of direction and missed a turnoff.

Justin had fallen around 5 p.m. on Saturday. Jeremy finally made it back to camp around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday and called the Emery County Sheriff's Office.

Justin says now that the only way he endured the wait was by forcing himself to exercise his mind and what he could of his body. He recited the names, birthdays and ages of his wife and children. When he faltered, he forced himself to stand, enduring excruciating pain in order to stay awake. His faith also played a role in keeping his spirit alive.

"That first night, I heard some scratching, so I turned on my head lamp and looked around and saw a little brown mouse. He stayed near me for a couple hours," he said. "I talked to him and gave him some peanuts, even my apple core that I was saving. That mouse was the only animal I ever saw, and he kept me awake."

Sunshine crawled over the sliver of skyline visible above, and Harris was cheered. Help, he was certain, was on its way.

"But the sun went down, and nobody was there. That was the worst time. I didn't know if I had it in me — emotionally, mentally, physically — to do another night," he remembers now.

But he made it, in spite of his fears, and eventually heard members of the Emery County Search and Rescue team shouting his name. Hours later, rescue crews and a Life Flight helicopter helped hoist Harris out of the remote location. He was transported to LDS Hospital, where he stayed for two months.

"People ask if I had a feeling that he was alive, and I didn't," says Tricia Harris. "I thought he was dead. I kept asking the sheriff's office if people could live through this cold weather. When I heard he was in that canyon, I just bawled."

Doctors cautioned Tricia and Justin that his injury was so traumatic that amputation was a real possibility. Tricia compiled a scrapbook journal of Justin's ordeal that features memories, facts and graphic photos of his wounded leg, split nearly in half on one side to drain infections and repair the damage.

When the time came, just after New Year's Day 2004, to make the final decision about amputating his lower leg, Justin and Tricia said they knew it was the right thing to do. A family photo propped next to his bed provided inspiration, Tricia said.

"We were looking at that photo and said, 'What's going to happen if he loses his leg?' Nothing! Justin always makes the best of things. He's always been like that, an upbeat, positive person," she said.

Within 72 hours after the operation, Justin's fever was gone, and his strength was coming back, Tricia said.

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It took a while before he could say with conviction that he felt good, but there were goals and events that kept him going. The Harris family grew by one after Justin's accident. Emery Faith is named after the search and rescue heroes who helped save her dad's life.

Justin — who works as editor of the "Construction Monitor," a newsletter for building industry — also was a volunteer coach for his son's youth football league.

"I wanted to get back and coach my 7th- and 8th-grade football teams. There's so much more to it than winning a game," he says. "I really feel like we all have two choices, no matter what happens to you. You can either be a survivor or a victim. It all depends on how you deal with it."


E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com

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