2 days later, the rescue team finally dug through the mudslide. When they lifted Grant onto a stretcher, he was still clutching something in his fist, and it took the rescuers a lot of effort to pry his fingers open.
It was a St. Christopher medal caked in mud and blood. For all 48 hours he'd been trapped under the mudslide, he had kept it safe in his palm.
But he'd missed the critical window for treatment. The muscle in both his legs had died, and the doctors had to amputate them high above the knee.
After being trapped so long in that cramped, dark space, he also developed a severe fear of the dark. Whenever the lights went out, he'd lose control and scream like a madman.
Severe crush syndrome had damaged his kidneys, too. He would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, dependen
