Twenty-two years ago on January 4th, 1994, Taryn Staley was up at Finny Cumberlane to celebrate Gary’s, Taryn’s brother, fifteenth birthday. It was her mom, her step dad, her friend (Amy), Gary, her mom’s friend, four or five of Gary’s friends, and herself who traveled up the Finny Cumberlane mountain side. Their day was spent playing in the snow and snowboarding on the small, snow-capped mountain, but the day took a turn for the worse on their way home. “At 10:00 AM everyone met at our house in Burlington with their snowboarding gear, extra clothes, etc. We also loaded up a camp stove, pans, cups, cocoa and a pot of chile with freetos dip chips for lunch. 11:AM we all headed for the mountain.” Wendy, Taryn’s mother, remembered how the day
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but they were forced to share the front seat ,where the seat belt could not fit over both of them, because Paul’s dog “was in the back seat and he was wet and stinky.”
Tired and cold from playing in the snow all day, both Taryn and Amy were silent as Paul drove behind Wendy’s pickup truck. But while driving down the mountain on a logging road, that Taryn says “is only a one lane winding road with the mountain on one side and a 300 foot cliff with an 80% incline on the other.”, Paul was trying to scare the two girls by jerking the wheel toward the cliff.
“He thought he was being funny.”, Taryn said, “but one time he jerked the wheel too far and we were sent over the side of the cliff. The car’s roof gave way and the windows shattered.” sending Taryn and Amy flying out of the window. The girls managed to cling to the side of the mountain as they watched the car descend down the cliff. Unfortunately, because Paul had his seatbelt on, he went with the Bronco to the very bottom along with his dog, …show more content…
When asked what injuries they had suffered, Taryn said, “We had some glass stuck in our heads, and bumps and bruises, not much. Paul broke his back in several places though and the dog, somehow, was perfectly fine.” Paul was transferred to Skagit Valley Hospital and later to Harborview with a broken neck and back. Luckily, after a few months of rehab, Paul was back to normal “he is fine and dandy” according to Wendy, “and so is
but they were forced to share the front seat ,where the seat belt could not fit over both of them, because Paul’s dog “was in the back seat and he was wet and stinky.”
Tired and cold from playing in the snow all day, both Taryn and Amy were silent as Paul drove behind Wendy’s pickup truck. But while driving down the mountain on a logging road, that Taryn says “is only a one lane winding road with the mountain on one side and a 300 foot cliff with an 80% incline on the other.”, Paul was trying to scare the two girls by jerking the wheel toward the cliff.
“He thought he was being funny.”, Taryn said, “but one time he jerked the wheel too far and we were sent over the side of the cliff. The car’s roof gave way and the windows shattered.” sending Taryn and Amy flying out of the window. The girls managed to cling to the side of the mountain as they watched the car descend down the cliff. Unfortunately, because Paul had his seatbelt on, he went with the Bronco to the very bottom along with his dog, …show more content…
When asked what injuries they had suffered, Taryn said, “We had some glass stuck in our heads, and bumps and bruises, not much. Paul broke his back in several places though and the dog, somehow, was perfectly fine.” Paul was transferred to Skagit Valley Hospital and later to Harborview with a broken neck and back. Luckily, after a few months of rehab, Paul was back to normal “he is fine and dandy” according to Wendy, “and so is