The two mountain bikers were into the last downhill curve of their 16-mile ride on the Sun Top Trail near Crystal Mountain earlier this month.

Rob Covert, 47, a Bellevue electrician, rounded a tight corner and waited for his girlfriend, Melinda, also 47, a graphic designer from Seattle.

For privacy reasons, Melinda does not want her last name used.

Covert heard an impact, and doubled back.

“I came around the corner, and she was face down and knocked out,” he said.

Melinda had grazed a tree. The impact flung her off her bike and head-first into rocks by the trail. Though she was wearing a helmet, the back of her head was bleeding, and she was unconscious.

“When I saw her, I knew there was nothing I could do for her,” Covert said. “I rolled her over and thought I was going to sit there and watch her pass.”

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

No reception.

He dialed again, yelled her name, called for help.

He jumped on his bike and pedaled for all her life was worth. In minutes, he came off the trail into Buck Creek campground and Ranger Creek Air Field. Before him stood what could surely pass for a miracle: Eighteen Boy Scouts and three leaders in the middle of emergency response training.

“A sweaty biker with a red bandana came running into camp yelling “Help! Help! My girlfriend has a bad head wound,” recalled Cole Lindell of Troop 501, which is based at North Tapps Middle School in Lake Tapps and was one of three troops participating in the exercise.

“We thought it was another test, so we got our kits and followed him to the accident, but then the truth came out. It was really for real,” Kyle Isom, also of Troop 501, wrote in his account of the incident on the evening of July 16.

“I saw the woman was really hurt and going into shock, so we put all the things we just learned about how to save people to the test,” Kyle continued. “We Boy Scouts made a half circle around her, but still leaving a pathway. The first layer were the people working on her. The rest of the layers were handing emergency supplies to help her.”

The scouts from three troops – 501, Pacific’s 835 and Kirkland’s 507 – were already in place and working by the time their leaders arrived.

Jeff Lindell, Troop 501 committee member, grabbed the camp’s big first aid kit and headed to the scene.

They did not know that help already was on the way.

Covert’s first 911 call had registered as a hang-up, said Mike Smith, Greenwater Fire Department captain. Dispatchers triangulated the signal off the towers, and a crew got rolling. Covert’s second aborted call gave more directional information. A later call from 501’s assistant scoutmaster John Irwin gave the precise location.

When they hiked to the scene, the adults found the scouts trying to stabilize Melinda, who was convulsing and vomiting blood.

Troop 835 scout Perry Fraze, 16, held a compress to Melinda’s head. Another stood by Covert, who was urging Melinda to remain conscious. Covert remembers being overcome by fear and emotion, and feeling the comfort of that scout’s hand on his shoulder.

After the adults called 911, they deployed scouts to meet emergency crews.

Lindell took a group of scouts back to the camp to fetch more equipment and find more help.

Meanwhile, at the scene, scouts prepared for the worst.

John Elliot Chaffee, Patrick Peet and Kyle Isom, all of Troop 501, gathered sweatshirts and went into the forest in search of poles to build a stretcher, in case help did not arrive.

“Some other scouts and I went out onto the road to wave the paramedics the right way in,” said Bryant Irwin of Troop 501. “When the paramedics finally got there, some of the scouts helped them bring some of their items to where the lady was. When the paramedics were half up the trail, the lady went into shock. She was shaking and coughing up blood.”

Scouts who had cleared away the bikes then helped assemble the all-terrain litter.

When paramedics from Greenwater and Buckley called for a helicopter to take Melinda to Harborview Medical Center, scouts on the ground deployed to direct it.

Scouts, meanwhile, cleared the accident site, and took the bikes to Covert’s car.

“While we were waiting, Conrad led us in prayer for the lady,” Bryant said of Troop 501 Scout Conrad Stenger.

After it was over, the scouts returned to camp. They cleaned up their equipment and themselves, had dinner, and went on with their training.

“In a disaster, you can’t stop,” said Jim Brass, Troop 835 leader and organizer of the training.

He’s proud of his scouts, who raised the funds to convert a bus into a mobile feeding and relief station that already has responded to floods. They could have used that money to pay for trips and expeditions, he said. Instead, they devoted it, and their energy, to the community.

Covert and Melinda are deeply grateful for their commitment to readiness, and their compassion.

Melinda suffered broken ribs, a cracked jaw and a subdural hematoma.

Covert stayed with her the entire six days she spent at Harborview. On Thursday, she was released from the hospital. She is home with her parents, Covert said, and is expected to make a full recovery.

He credits the scouts.

“Their credo is ‘be prepared’,” Covert said. “They were that, and a lot more.”

Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677

kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com

Roster of Lifesaving Boy Scouts

Troop 835, Pacific

Perry Fraze, 16

Edgar Romero, 15

Danny Salinas ,12

Carlos Rodriquez, 14

Adam Gerlt, 12

Scoutmaster Jim Brass

Troop 501, Lake Tapps

Bryant Irwin, 13

Cole Lindell, 12

Kyle Isom, 12

Dalton Troseth, 12

Adam McKee, 13

Conrad Stenger, 15

Patrick McFarland, 13

Nathan Quick, 11

John Elliott, 14

James Fleury, 14

Patrick Peet, 12

assistant scoutmaster John Irwin and troop committee member Jeff Lindell

Troop 570, Kirkland/Woodinville

Andrew Peterson, 10

Noah Schram, 10

Scout parent Linda Schram