Amanda Brown, Grand Canyon, AZ – 30 at time of event (2006)

Amanda is used to living on the edge—the edge of a crater. Actually, it was the south lip of the Grand Canyon. This small community is separated from the big smoke by a helicopter trip in emergencies. A normal Sunday evening after Thanksgiving quickly turned into a lifetime of surprises for Amanda. She had put the two girls to bed after they’d helped prepare the Christmas decorations, and remembers washing the dishes.

But, she woke up in Flagstaff Medical Center, and everything in between is merely hearsay to her. “And I can deny any of it,” she says in jest.