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“I definitely knew my right side was broke,” Boehm told KTVQ News. “I was feeling like I wasn’t going to make it. There was a point there where I was like, this is bad.”
Instead of panicking, Boehm’s friends immediately jumped into action. One applied pressure to the wounds and kept him awake while another scrambled to call for emergency rescue.
They knew time was against them. Every second mattered.
Getting Boehm out of that rugged location was no simple task. The steep, rocky terrain made the mission extremely dangerous. There were no easy roads or quick shortcuts—only brutal wilderness between him and safety.
Crews from Red Lodge Fire Rescue, search and rescue teams, and the Custer Gallatin National Forest Beartooth Ranger District were dispatched. Chainsaw teams were even called in to clear fallen trees from the trail so medics could reach him.
“The trail had a bunch of trees falling everywhere. So they had a tree crew out there, cut trees down in front of me,” Boehm recalled. “They had the Red Lodge fire rescue crew out there, search and rescue. I mean, they did amazing.”
Dr. Gordon Riha from Billings Clinic praised the incredible effort, telling KTVQ, “Personnel who were involved in Cody’s care deserve significant praise and a lot of kudos. They went above and beyond with their extraction from a very difficult location, and then they provided lifesaving care on the way to the hospital.”
Despite his broken bones and collapsed lung, Boehm arrived alive at Billings Clinic. Doctors quickly realized why.
Boehm had been wearing his climbing helmet. That single piece of equipment spared him from certain death.
Dr. Riha explained that without it, Boehm would have suffered “significant and severe intracranial injury, which likely would have been life-threatening.”
Boehm himself put it bluntly: “Your helmet will save your life no matter what. That’s what saved my life. It hit me in the head. If I didn’t have my helmet on, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In the climbing world, safety protocols are drilled into beginners from day one. You wear your helmet every single time—no excuses. Boehm lived by that rule, and it’s the only reason he’s still alive to share his story.
Accidents can happen even to the most skilled and experienced climbers. Boehm did everything right, and still, a freak moment nearly killed him. But his commitment to safety gave him the one edge he needed to survive.
Despite his injuries, Boehm is already looking forward to getting back on the rocks. His friend TaylorRae Seal spoke for many when she wrote on Facebook: “Thank you, Lord. Love you brother!”
This near-tragedy is a reminder of the unsung heroes who step up in crisis—friends who refuse to leave your side, rescue crews who battle impossible conditions, and doctors who refuse to give up.
At the center of it all is Cody Boehm, a man who made one smart decision that turned a deadly accident into a survival story. He wore his helmet, and it saved his life.
