Bryan On Scouting
The Boy Scouts who helped Ann Curry down a mountain last month won’t get a merit badge for that help, “but they will be eligible to earn a Meritorious Award, such as the National Certificate of Merit,” Bryan Wendell told Poynter in an email on Monday. “That’s up to their local council, the Patriots’ Path Council.”
In April, Troop and Crew 368 from Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, found an injured woman on the trail at Harriman State Park in New York.
They didn’t know it at the time, but that woman was NBC journalist Ann Curry, Wendell wrote Friday on the blog Bryan On Scouting. He’s also the senior editor of Scouting and Eagles’ Call magazines.
“We were hiking along, and we came to a trail intersection,” (Scouter Rick) Jurgens said, “and a lady was sitting on the ground with her one leg out. We didn’t think anything of it, but one of the guys asked if everything is OK. She said, ‘No, not really. I think I broke my ankle.’ She told us to keep going, but the guys refused.”
With no prompting from Jurgens, the Scouts sprang into action. This is what they had trained for.
“They splinted it up perfectly,” Jurgens said. “Just like in the pictures.”
On Friday, Curry tweeted her thanks (she also sent a letter of thanks to each of the scouts.)
If you break a leg on on a mountain, I hope Boy Scout Troop 368 finds you. Boy am I glad they found me. http://t.co/AzTWlFzNcz
— Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) May 9, 2014
The rescue made use of many of the skills Boy Scouts are well-known for, but there’s also a merit badge for journalism, which includes being able to explain the First Amendment, reading/watching or visiting a newsroom or news station and attending a public event and writing about it.
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