US Marine thanks Bulgarian rescuers for second chance at life

5 November 2023 is a date US Marine James Barlow will always remember. It was the day he conquered Vihren Peak in the Pirin Mountains, but minutes later his life took a dramatic turn. He fell over 200 metres at a speed of 60 km/h and landed on his head. He suffered severe hypothermia.

James Barlow, a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, was hiking on Vihren Peak when he lost his footing and fell 220 meters

"I don't remember what happened, I hit my head, had a brain haemorrhage and lost consciousness," says James Barlow. It was his wife who alerted emergency services when he didn't return home.

The couple's young son retrieved the GPS coordinates from James' mobile phone, making the rescue much easier. Twenty mountain rescuers set out immediately and found him 10 hours after the accident. "We were surprised that he was still alive. Our eyes widened when he responded," recalls Ivo, one of the rescuers.

James was first admitted to the Military Medical Academy, where doctors fought for his life. A month later, he came out of a coma in a US hospital. "I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world," James admits today. Now fully recovered, he has returned to Bulgaria to thank his rescuers and to donate BGN 12,000 (almost €6,000) to the Mountain Rescue Service for team training.

"My family and I will never stop being grateful because without these amazing people here in Bulgaria I wouldn't be alive, I would have died in the mountains. There are good people in the world who really want to help others," says James.