Fundraising underway for L.A. hiker recovering from glacier fall

More than $14,000 has been raised to help pay the medical expenses pf a Los Angeles hiker who fell 40 feet into a glacial crevasse, climbed out with a crushed vertebra and then walked three miles for help.

“I had people I wanted to see again, for real,” Ted Porter told ABC of his ordeal in Montana’s Glacier National Park. “I wanted to see my family.”

After climbing out and using an ice pick to prop himself up and walk, Porter eventually came across a group of hikers, who watched over him overnight until rescuers arrived the next morning.

But his road to recovery -- he also suffered another damaged vertebra as well as other injures -- is a long one.

“Ted’s undergone three operations to repair his crushed vertebra, but now he faces extensive rehabilitation to get back on his feet,” family publicist Kyle Erickson said.

With mounting medical bills, Porter’s family set up a GiveForward fundraiser. So far, more than $14,700 of the $50,000 goal has been raised.

Despite Porter’s feat and will to survive, he said that in the moments after he fell into the crevasse, he prepared for the worst. Alone and with a broken back, he turned on his cellphone video camera and recorded a goodbye message.

The video was aired on “Good Morning America” in September, about two weeks after the fall.

“You guys, if I don’t make it out, I love you,” he said.

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