Highlights | Falling, then healing
- Trauma nurse Nichole Doane survived a 60-foot fall during a canyoneering trip.
- Her friends and colleagues at Harborview cared for her and helped her recover.
- Throughout her recovery, Doane learned the healing power of being present.
Nichole Doane, RN, has a unique perspective for someone who works at Harborview Medical Center — not only does she care for patients in the trauma ICU, but she was once a patient there herself.
On Aug. 21, 2017, Doane was at Wallace Falls canyoneering with friends when she slipped on her rope and fell 60 feet, landing on a rocky outcropping. After waiting four hours for help, she was rescued by Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue and flown to Harborview.
She turned her experience into a documentary, and during the accident and her recovery, she also learned about the power of living in the moment — and wants to share her learnings with others.
On fully embracing support from others
Lying on the rock, Doane was in unbelievable pain — her back was broken, she had a spinal cord injury, her pelvis was crushed, and by the time she got to Harborview, she’d lost half of her blood volume. In those hours waiting for help, she found she didn’t want to focus on the pain, but instead on the love from her friends who were with her, watching over her.
“If I was going to die in the next five minutes, I’d rather focus on the things that mattered,” she says.
Right after the accident, Doane did and didn’t want to be taken to Harborview. She knew it was where she would receive the best care, but she dreaded having to be vulnerable in her workplace.
Yet, she learned how to let others take care of her, even in those vulnerable moments. From her fellow trauma nurse friends who stayed with her while waiting for help, to the search and rescue volunteers, to her surgical team at Harborview, and to her friends who helped her get back into canyoneering, Doane knows she survived and healed because of everyone who helped her along the way.
“I’m really lucky to have the friends I do, who were understanding, who met me where I was at, and who would go as slow as I needed to go,” she says.
On staying present and focused on what matters
Focusing on the present helped Doane throughout the healing process. At one point, she wanted to return to her yoga practice but was in a wheelchair and unable to move her body into yoga poses the way she used to. She still attended classes, focusing on breathing and imagining her body moving, and learned that the internal journey during yoga mattered more to her than the physical one.
“I have enjoyed walking up to the edge of who I am and what I perceive my abilities are,” she says. “I think it’s given me a lot of strength in my own personal life, to use that as a tool to figure out where inner strength comes from and how to calm myself down.”
On accepting the meandering path of healing
Now, Doane is back to doing the activities she enjoys, including canyoneering. But it was a long, sometimes winding path to reach that point.
She says she initially pushed herself too hard and too quickly to return to her normal routine.
“I was my own worst enemy. It’s easy for me to push harder — that’s my coping mechanism in life, culturally I was taught to keep going no matter what,” she says. “My process has been learning to back off. That has catapulted me forward faster than the pushing.”
On giving back
The idea of a documentary initially terrified Doane, who is a self-described introvert. Director Baylee Sinner approached Doane about it at a yoga teacher training they both attended. Doane didn’t know how she felt about sharing with strangers some of the most painful, deeply personal experiences of her life. But when she realized she could use the film to raise money for search and rescue organizations, she was on board.
Doane and the rest of the team behind the documentary allow search and rescue organizations free access to screen the film, Where the Rope Ends, at fundraising events. So far, over 30 such events in the United States and Canada have raised tens of thousands of dollars to support the volunteers, like those who saved Doane’s life.
Helping in one-on-one ways is important to Doane, too, whose perspective on nursing changed after being a patient.
“Now that I know firsthand just how much relief can come from having a pillow positioned in just the right place, I have endless determination to find the sweet spot for others,” Doane says.
Want to watch the documentary? Keep an eye out on your local PBS channel, where the documentary will be airing soon.
