‘I was ready’: St. George chiropractor assists seizing man in Zion National Park

ST. GEORGE — A crowd gathered around a man lying unresponsive on a trail in Zion National Park. Someone had run for help, but paramedics had not yet arrived, which is when a local chiropractor stepped in to help.

Dr. Dylan Wasserman hiking in the Narrows at Zion National Park, Utah, Aug. 7, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Dylan Wasserman, St. George News

Midmorning on Sunday, Dr. Dylan Wasserman, a chiropractor at Dr. Dylan Chiropractic, was hiking The Narrows with a group of friends. One friend decided to turn back early, so the five hikers began their trek back after deciding to stay together, he said.

Once they reached the paved trail at Riverside Walk, the group saw a crowd gathering at the side of the path, obstructing foot traffic “just a little bit,” Wasserman said. It was then he saw a man’s legs on the ground.

“It was clear at that point that somebody had fallen over,” he said.

Many passersby continued walking, which Wasserman said was likely because they didn’t want to contribute to a traffic jam. Others stopped to see if they could help, including Wasserman’s group.

A woman in the group, described as being “more outgoing and outspoken,” asked the man’s companions what had happened, Wasserman said. The man’s family said he seemed to be having a seizure and while he appeared to be in his 40s or 50s, he reportedly never had one before.

Dr. Dylan Wasserman and his group hiking in the Narrows at Zion National Park, Utah, Aug. 7, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Dylan Wasserman, St. George News

There was no cellphone reception on the trail, so a bystander sprinted to the shuttle drop-off to report the incident.

Wasserman estimated that the man had been on the ground for 10-15 minutes before the hikers arrived and he “was very, very shaky.”

“His eyes were open, but he was completely unconscious and he was not responsive to any stimuli,” he said.

Two members of the man’s group also appeared to be doctors, Wasserman said. They and the man’s wife were monitoring him, checking his pulse and shaking him lightly to “wake him up.” The man’s wife was informed that Wasserman was also a doctor and she asked if he would try to do something. The chiropractor said he would try.

“I know how to handle some emergency situations – I’ve had some emergency care training, but then it seemed like the other people had more medical experience than I did (but) no one really had a solution,” he said.

A misaligned neck can sometimes cause seizures, Wasserman said, so he gently felt the man’s neck and noticed that the atlas bone was out of alignment, something he said he’s used to feeling as a chiropractor.

Wasserman said he has worked with children with histories of seizures in situations that doctors with other specialties couldn’t resolve.

“It’s just a different thing that I look for,” he said.

Dr. Dylan Wasserman at work at Dr. Dylan Chiropractic, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Dylan Wasserman, St. George News

He began easing the bone into the proper position using a vibratory impulse from his fingers rather than a thrusting motion, Wasserman said, adding that it was difficult for witnesses to see exactly what he was doing as the process was extremely gentle and didn’t involve moving the man’s head.

“The moment I started this adjustment, he snapped out of it,” he said.

However, Wasserman said he “never liked guarantees” and that while the man’s recovery mostly likely resulted from the adjustment, it could have also been a coincidence.

“I never liked things that are 100% because there’s always room for other things that can happen,” he said. “Like, it could have just been that at that exact moment was when he was done convulsing.”

Wasserman said the man was confused about being on the ground and those near him tried to keep him still. The man was allowed to hold himself up slightly on his elbow. He was then given a cranial nerve test by those present who checked eye movements, whether he could feel sensations in his face or hear instructions, and whether he had control of his lower extremities. He passed the test and was “very eager to get up.”

“I just feel fortunate that I’ve had that training and that it really came in handy that day,” Wasserman said.

A file photo shows the start of the Riverside Walk Trail in Zion National Park, Utah, July 3, 2017 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

With the support of his family and Wasserman, the man sat on a rock to wait for medical personnel.

Once the man had regained consciousness, Wasserman said he noticed his children standing by looking scared and confused, with one boy in tears.

“They were still pretty shaken up,” he said. “That can be very traumatizing, especially for kids because you oftentimes will see the father figure as this giant — this man who is indestructible essentially, you know, so if that was the case for them, seeing their hero falling was very unnerving.”

Wasserman said he obtained contact information from the man’s family and left his own, advising them to visit his office for a follow-up. He said he also is attempting to contact the family to ensure the man got necessary care afterward.

“It’s probably been an issue but gone asymptomatic for a while, then for whatever reason, you know, that day it really emerged,” he said.

Wasserman said he was glad that his training prepared him for the emergency and that he was able to “make a difference.”

“There’s a quote that I like to use sometimes: ‘We attract what we’re ready for,”‘ he said. “And I think I was ready for that.”

Zion National Park spokesman Jonathan Shafer confirmed that rangers responded to reports of someone seizing on Riverside Walk on Sunday but could not share further details.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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