Woman, 20, suffers horrific burns trying to save dog from 190°F thermal spring in Yellowstone National Park - Laiha Slayton suffered third-degree burns on '90 percent of her body' while trying to save her Shih Tzu after he fell into a hot spring on Tuesday

Woman, 20, suffers horrific burns while trying to save dog from 190°F…

archived 7 Oct 2021 04:55:42 UTC

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A 20-year-old woman has suffered horrific burns to 90 percent of her body after jumping into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park to try to rescue her dog.

Laiha Slayton and her father, Woodraw, were visiting the park on Tuesday and had parked 20-30 yards away from Maiden’s Grave Spring, next to the Firehole River, her sister Kamilla told DailyMail.com.

The family's two Shih Tzus, Rusty and Chevy, were wandering around nearby while Laiha was looking for their leashes in the car.

Rusty suddenly got his foot burned by a small leak from the geyser that flows into the river. The dog then panicked and fell in to the spring while Woodrow was trying to gain control of Chevy.

Laiha jumped in to the thermal spring - which can reach temperatures of 190-degree Fahrenheit - in a bid to rescue her one-year-old puppy, and then had to be rescued herself by her father.

Laiha, from Tacoma, Washington, suffered third-degree burns to her body from her shoulders to her feet.

Her father drove her to West Yellowstone, Montana, to seek help and she was flown by helicopter to the burn unit at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, park officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Woodrow suffered a burn to his foot and also required treatment.

The puppy, Rusty, was taken to a veterinarian but it did not survive its wounds.

Laiha Slayton, 20, is in a medically-induced coma for the next two weeks as she recovers from her third-degree burns after rescuing her dog from a hot spring in Yellowstone, Wyoming on Tuesday, her family say

Laiha suffered third-degree thermal burns on about '90 percent of her body' while she was trying to save her Shih Tzu, Rusty, who jumped into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park

Rusty, the Shih Tzu puppy, was taken to a veterinarian but did not survive from its wounds

Maiden's Grave Hot Spring flowing into the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park, where Laiha and her dog reportedly fell into and suffered burns

Laiha, a dental assistant and former nursing home aid, is currently in a medically-induced coma for the next two weeks, according to a GoFundMe page that was organized by her sister to pay for medical bills.

Laiha's palms are also 'completely gone,' according to Kamilla, who says that her sister will have to require further surgery, meaning that she will be in the hospital for a 'few months'.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Slayton's GoFundMe page had raised $12,377 out of a $45,000 goal to pay for expenses including medical costs and cremation services for the puppy.

Yellowstone National Park officials posted about the incident on their Facebook page, and warned visitors to stay away from the hot springs.

Their post read: 'The ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface. Everyone must remain on boardwalks and trails and exercise extreme caution around thermal features.

'While in the park, protect your pets by physically controlling them at all times. Pets must be in a car, crate or on a leash no more than six feet long. They are not allowed on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry, or in thermal areas.'

The incident happened at Maiden's Grave Spring, north of the famous Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming

Laiha (pictured) was taken to hospital in Idaho by helicopter after her father drove her to West Yellowstone, Montana, to seek help

Laiha seen with her two Shih Tzus that were involved in the incident: Chevy and Rusty

Laiha is the second woman who burned herself in a Yellowstone thermal feature in recent weeks.

On September 16, a 19-year-old woman—a concessions employee at the park—from Rhode Island suffered second and third-degree burns to 5 percent of her body after falling into thermal water near the world famous Old Faithful geyser.

Due to medical privacy laws, it is unknown exactly how many visitors have been injured from ignoring the cautionary signs.

In October 2020, a three-year-old suffered second-degree thermal burns to their lower body after running from a designated trail and slipping and falling into a small thermal feature.

In May of the same year, a visitor who entered the park illegally while it was closed due to the Covid pandemic also ended up falling into a thermal feature while backing up to take a photo at Old Faithful.

Since the park's establishment in 1872, there have been around 20 reported deaths due to some sort of interaction with park thermal areas.

Slayton is the second person who has suffered severe burns in a Yellowstone (pictured) thermal feature in recent weeks

Around 20 people have died due to some sort of interaction with park thermal areas since the park's establishment in 1872, according to the USG

That number is significantly higher than the eight deaths over the same period due to encounters with grizzly bears, the United States Geological Survey reports.

The most recent fatality at the park came in August 2000, when one person died and two others suffered severe burns after falling from a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin.

Yellowstone has more than 10,000 thermal features, which can be as hot as 280 degrees Fahrenheit (138 Celsius).

The national park was briefly closed in May 2020 due to COVID reasons, but National Park Services reported that it has hosted 483,159 recreation visits in May 2021.

It's an 11 percent increase compared to May 2019 (434,385 recreation visits) and the park’s most visited May on record.

So far, there have been more visitors coming to Yellowstone in 2021 than over each of the last three years. National Park Services reported that Yellowstone has hosted 483,159 recreation visits in May 2021 — an 11 percent increase compared to May 2019 (434,385 recreation visits) and the park’s most visited May on record

 

[Aqua Panda]

While the instinct to try and save the dog is commendable, letting them out of the car without leash was a massive mistake.

Always leash up a dog before it exits the car. Their negligence in letting them out to "get the leashes ready" led to the death of that dog. Also, likely her as well as 90% 3rd degree burns are almost 100% fatal.

"Getting the leashes ready" is also usually bad owners trying to coverup their laziness in being mindful of their pets. They let out the pets to wander because they can't be assed to pay attention.

A completely avoidable tragedy where no one wins.

 

[The Dude]

Uhh, I'd love to visit Yellowstone National Park (and Wyoming in general) but I think I'd skip going on that bridge the same way I avoid balconies of apartments more than a few storeys off the ground in that I'd be too preoccupied with thinking about how I could fall off for me to be able to enjoy the view (and that's even considering that the balcony has railings making such a prospect very difficult even with my vertigo, unlike this bridge where a dizzy spell would doom me).

I've been to Yellowstone eight or nine times in my life. It's my favorite place on Earth. The boardwalks around the hot springs and geysers are about two or three inches off the ground and are regularly inspected. Any foot bridge in the park that's any significant height off the ground has railings. Yellowstone is perfectly safe as long as you use your head and abide by the rules and warnings.

 

[totallyrandomusername]

So, she was a dumb bitch who let her dogs wander, unattended while she fucked around with their leashes instead of having that handled before getting out of the vehicle, around an area that was very dangerous. As a result, the dog fell into a dangerous thermal feature which cost the dog its life, and she was stupid enough to jump in and try to save the dog, despite the chance that such a small dog being exposed to such conditions was unlikely to survive. As a consequence of her not using her brain, she needed to be rescued, which injured her father, and will likely result in her death, and if she didn't die, she will wish she had, since her life will now be one of endless pain, disability, and being a freak for all to see...

Several lessons to be learned here:

1) Always have your animal completely under control before leaving any contained environment such as a car or your residence

2) If your animal gets into a life-threatening situation, and you trying to save them will likely threaten your life, as much as it sucks, you have to consider not doing anything.

3) If you are going to have extensive, severe burns, try to be cognizant of your situation if at all possible, and ensure you will die. The life you will have if you live is not one anyone would even wish on Hitler. In her case, that would have been submerging her head, which I have no doubt would have done the job.

It is an unfortunate circumstance, but it was completely preventable, or at an absolute maximum, should have involved the death of the dog, and no human injuries. For her own good, I hope she passes peacefully.

That said, the name of where it happened is just ridiculously ironic.

 

[Astro Galactic Megalul]

Park workers had to fish out the boiled dog like it was a piece of chicken in soup, right? Imagine being that guy.

 

[whatever I feel like]

She could have let her unleashed dog become but one of the many skeletons that lie along those paths but nope, now her life is basically ruined.

 

[Slap47]

I know this is probably going to trigger some folks but I would have just let the dog die and stayed out of the boiling hot water.

She must have had one hell of a connection to those 1-year-old puppies.

 

[SITHRAK!]

Not boiling. At it's temperature it's near superheating

water there at that pool reaches 200F on average. Superheating is past 212. It doesn't take much for that pool to get hotter. You should also check sea levels.

Since you don't know 6250ft above sea level water boils at 93.4C. Yellowstone is 8000ft on average.

I should mention that I'm not taking into consideration the average altitude pressure there. Sorry.

Uh, yeah, the higher you go, the lower the boiling point.
Now explain how 93°c/200°F is 'superheated' 2.4km/1.5 miles above sea level, when when 100°c/212°F at sea level is just 'boiling', genius.
Water 'boils' at 63°c/155°F at the peak of Everest, meaning it carries almost 40% less heat-mass than it would at sea level.
That's hot enough to be uncomfortable or cause superficial burns but far from the damage 100°c/212°F water would do.
Where the fuck did you go to high school?

 

[Bland Crumbs]

I really do not understand why people think it is okay to let their dogs run around without leashes. Dogs do not understand the world. They are not very intelligent. Leashes are to protect them from themselves.

Also I present this skit from Mr Show:

 

[SITHRAK!]

Yellowstone is perfectly safe as long as you use your head and abide by the rules and warnings.

Make something idiot-proof, and nature will simply create a better class of idiot.

 

[Grub]

Uhh, I'd love to visit Yellowstone National Park (and Wyoming in general) but I think I'd skip going on that bridge the same way I avoid balconies of apartments more than a few storeys off the ground in that I'd be too preoccupied with thinking about how I could fall off for me to be able to enjoy the view (and that's even considering that the balcony has railings making such a prospect very difficult even with my vertigo, unlike this bridge where a dizzy spell would doom me).

At least on the bridge it's clear which parts are the death pits. There's areas along that path where you're walking on solid ground, but everything to the right or left of you is a death pit. It's a beautiful place though, i recommend going if you get the chance. Even the area around the steam pits is beautiful.

 

[Jack Awful]

View attachment 2604147
I've walked on that bridge. It was winter though. That part of the park is so trippy. They warn you not to step off the bridge because the grounds only an inch thick and there's lava and boiling steam below.

There's also a place there where you can swim in a place where two rivers join, one that's heated by lava to near boiling and the other comes from a glacier and the point where they meet's like a hotspring. That shit was fucking amazing.

That's giving me anxiety just from looking at it.

 

[FFinfo]

You'd think this sort of brazen disregard for obvious danger would have caught up with someone far before they got that old.
National parks are not playgrounds: They're patches of the wild that are barred from getting paved over and turned into suburbs. Of all the places to go be dumb where other people, the authorities, and hospitals are all around to stop you and nearby when you ignore them, going to one of America's patches of no-bullshit-get-fucked-brutal nature is the worst possible choice, and it's hard to think anything other than "you had it coming". Hot springs aren't hot tubs, they're cauldrons of kill-you-juice. Hopefully she recovers as best you can from something like this, but she's going to be scarred for life and won't be out of the woods of outright dying from infection for what, weeks?

 

[totallyrandomusername]

Uh, yeah, the higher you go, the lower the boiling point.
Now explain how 93°c/200°F is 'superheated' 2.4km/1.5 miles above sea level, when when 100°c/212°F at sea level is just 'boiling', genius.
Water 'boils' at 63°c/155°F at the peak of Everest, meaning it carries almost 40% less heat-mass than it would at sea level.
That's hot enough to be uncomfortable or cause superficial burns but far from the damage 100°c/212°F water would do.
Where the fuck did you go to high school?

Actually, Fluhre's analysis is correct. Superheating is relative to the boiling point of a solution, not an absolute phenomenon. The elevation at Maiden's Grave Spring is ~7176 ft. and the atmospheric pressure on Oct 5, 2021 was ~22.68 in Hg so the boiling point of water was ~92.72 °C. If the water was ~93 °C, it would indeed have been considered superheated, with superheating being defined as "a liquid heated to a temperature above its boiling point without boiling".

However, even this analysis is deeply flawed, as this assumes what is being discussed is pure water. It is almost certainly not pure water. As a result of solutes present in the water, the inherent boiling point of said water was likely elevated. If the quantity and quality of the solutes present raised the boiling point above 93 °C, then it would not indeed be considered superheated.

The only way to reach a definitive answer is to have a compositional analysis of the water in Maiden's Grave Spring. Then it might be possible to work backwards, given the solutes known, to determine the boiling point. This would be rather difficult and labor intensive. The easiest way to determine its boiling point would be to boil a series of representative water samples at the location and take readings. The average of those reading would get us closest to the answer.

However, even at this point, having determined the actual elevation and atmospheric pressure of a given location on a given day, is already ridiculously autistic. Going any further would push this discussion into the realm of "Supremely Autistic", and I don't know about anyone else, but I have no interest in entering such a place.

As such, given that we know such water in a spring is likely to contain a heavy solute content, which would increase the boiling point, it can be said, with a degree of confidence, that the water likely boils above 93 °C and was thus not actually superheated. However, Fluhre indicated that he believed it was "near superheated" not actually superheated, so, using that qualifier he is likely correct. His understanding of the phenomenon of superheating was also accurate.

I have officially reached my autistic limit for the day, I will now engage in as much non-autistic behavior as possible so as not to exceed the recommended daily limit on 'sperging as set forth by the American Society For Ridiculously Autistic Freaks.

 

[beautiful person]

Untrained dogs are absolutely not a women-only phenomenon. I would venture to say maybe 10% of dog owners actually train their dogs outside of "go to the bathroom outside," and some people don't even do that. I've had family members chased and attacked by unleashed dogs, watched black men walk around like hot shit with their unneutered Rottweilers, lunging at people with their balls flapping in the wind, pit bulls are constantly eating people's children, dog shit being left everywhere, or in plastic baggies on the sidewalk (??), and people getting pissed if you call them out. I wish you had to have a license to own a dog tbh.

I like dogs but kind of can't stand dog people because most don't see the need to control or discipline their animals.

 

[Dilligaff]

People set foot in a national park and they become full-blown retards.

As far as having railings on the trail, the park service is not there to hold your hand. It's a wilderness and it's your job to keep yourself safe.

The book "Death In Yosemite" has a whole chapter about people going past sturdy metal safety railings to fill a water bottle or take a better photo and going over one of the falls.

Fuck around, find out.

Hey did you read Death in Yellowstone? I didn't feel it was quite as fascinating as Death in Yosemite or Death in the Grand Canyon, but interesting nonetheless. The whole first chapter is about people falling or going into hot springs.

Also for those Kiwi Farmers thinking there should be fences, in 1970, a 9 year old boy fell into (witnesses said ran into) a 200F pool. He didn't live and his parents embarked on a campaign to get all of the Yellowstone hot springs fenced off. There are 10,000 hot springs in the park. Though that didn't happen, they did manage to get the park service to issue more warnings about the dangers ( as detailed in pages 16-19 of Death in Yellowstone). The father, who was a chemical engineer, said he didn't take the danger seriously because he didn't think they were adequately warned that the obvious heat and visibly boiling water was dangerous.

The main problem seems to be that some people conflate amusement parks with national parks and behave accordingly like @KiwiFuzz and @FFinfo said.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Sorry about the dog.

As for the dumb bimbo, have fun being the Hamburger Lady

 

[Anonymus Fluhre]

I've been to Yellowstone eight or nine times in my life. It's my favorite place on Earth. The boardwalks around the hot springs and geysers are about two or three inches off the ground and are regularly inspected. Any foot bridge in the park that's any significant height off the ground has railings. Yellowstone is perfectly safe as long as you use your head and abide by the rules and warnings.

So it's perfectly safe for non-Americans than. That's good, I'd love to visit one day.

 

[Return of the Freaker]

I sense a potential new attraction for Chinese tourists

 

[The handsome tard]

See these springs like a boiling pot of water. Now imagine you falling into said boiling pot of water...

Yeah, it aint pretty. Its argurably worse than dying by fire because the water wont destroy your nerves so you will probably feel even MORE fucking agony.

I get wishing to save your dog but, first off, it falling there was your fault, the little hairball could be held on your arms until the leash arrived...second off, the dog couldnt be saved, ever.

 

[Ravana]

It was a Shihtzu, shoulda just let it go and get a real dog on the way home