Burcum: A father and son’s inspiring Boundary Waters rescue mission

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Family and friends flooded Sarah Olson of Jordan, Minn., with calls and texts in the harrowing hours after her son Keenan, 12, suffered a serious injury during a mountain biking time trial in late September.

One of those messages wasn’t just supportive. It was prescient as well, telling Olson to “prepare your heart to receive” — to let others help the family through this frightening crisis.

In an interview from Keenan’s hospital room at Hennepin County Medical Center Tuesday, Olson shared her thanks for that advice. It reminded her to rely on her faith at this difficult moment and readied her to embrace an unexpected but crucial assist from Jake and Tommy Hway, a northern Minnesota father-son pair of paddlers she’d never met.

“One of the nurses put it well, that Minnesota is the biggest small state. Just in the connections and in the way we take care of each other,” Olson said. ”We appreciate that."

Hway, 38, owns Chilly Dogs Sled Dog Trips near Ely, Minn. In the summer, Hway also guides canoeists in Minnesota’s beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA).

In their free time from taking care of their dogs, the duo grabs their canoe whenever possible to enjoy northern Minnesota’s beauty. They’ve taken many trips into the BWCA and like to travel light and fast.

They’re also happy to jump in a canoe when people need help. They’re not an official search-and-rescue team, but they volunteer their time to retrieve canoes, packs and other supplies left behind when a traveler has had to leave the BWCA unexpectedly, such as in a medical evacuation.

The Hways have a reputation for helping, something known to those who follow BWCA groups on Facebook. That’s how the pair wound up getting the call to help the Olson family.

Keenan’s accident happened at the south metro’s Buck Hill ski area on Sept. 30 when he was ripping through the course on his bike. Nobody saw it happen, but Sarah Olson was the first adult on the scene.

“It wasn’t that something was unsafe or gnarly, it was just a freak accident,” Sarah Olson said.

“But then his neck started ballooning in a way that I didn’t think was possible,” she said.

Fortunately, she was carrying a walkie talkie and able to call for help. Sarah held Keenan in her arms as she waited for help, fearing that she was watching the breath leave his body.

The ambulance crew intubated Keenan to help him breathe, sedated him and whisked him away to Hennepin County Medical Center. There, Sarah learned that Keenan had seriously injured his trachea. He would need breathing assistance, sedation and surgery in the difficult hours and days ahead.

Unfortunately, Keenan’s dad, Mike Olson, was a world away in the BWCA on an annual trip with longtime buddies. They were too far off the grid for communications equipment brought with them to work satisfactorily.

Sarah Olson knew she had to reach her husband somehow.

The answer: an easy yes.

Like Mike Olson, Jake Hway is also a father of four. “I know if it were me, I’d want someone to come looking for me and want to be with family,” Hway said. “I’m just doing what I hope anybody else would do for me.”

For those who haven’t visited the BWCA, it’s a big place. More than 1 million acres, more than 1,200 miles of canoe routes, and over 2,000 designated campsites, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Thankfully, Olson’s group had shared its route before leaving. Hway and his son were able to deduce their whereabouts before setting off from the Mudro Lake entry.

The route is rugged. As Tommy Hway noted, portages there can be tricky, with rocks perilous for ankle injuries. Beaver dams pose other challenges.

“I said, we’re here to find you. Your son is hurt and he’s in the hospital,” Jake Hway said. He also showed Mike Olson messages on his phone and told him the Hways had an extra seat in their canoe if he wanted to leave.

It was a quick transition, with Jake Hway making sure Mike had his car keys before departing. They deposited him at the parking lot, with Mike then making the drive south.

Keenan remains hospitalized but is now breathing without assistance. No date has been set yet for leaving the hospital. When he came out of healing sedation, he asked for his dad. Thanks to the Hways, Mike Olson was there.

As the Olsons look ahead, they are thankful for the new friendship with the Hways and plan to take Jake up on his offer to take Keenan dog sledding for free.

I’m grateful to both families for sharing this story. This is a time when so much in news highlights our divisions. The Hways’ kindness to another father and son, and the subsequent family friendship, feels like a powerful antidote to that.