It was a cold, sunny day at Monarch Mountain ski area near Salida, and Senior Airman Elliott Cox, 721st Security Forces Squadron Airman, was heading to the lodge to meet his companions after enjoying a day of snowboarding.
“It was a pretty good average day at the mountain,” Cox recalled. But it would quickly become anything but an average day.
On Jan. 2 Cox rushed to the aid of Ali Watts, 62, who broke her femur and lay helpless at the side of the slope. Cox relied on his training, took control of the situation and assisted Watts until the ski patrol and medical personnel arrived. He continued assisting them in getting Watts safely down the mountain where she was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.
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