CASTLE ROCK, Co. — It was the last thing Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey expected on a last minute hiking trip; a mountain rescue.
On March 3rd, in McCaffrey's hometown of Castle Rock, Colorado, the Carolina Panther joined by his older brother and close friends, were hiking near the peak of Castle Rock when all of a sudden, the second-year back witnessed the fall.
I don't know how he's not paralyzed, but the guy is a fighter," McCaffrey said. "It's truly a blessing and miracle that he's still here.
72-year-old Dan Smoker Sr. was hiking with his 13-year-old grandson Eli, when he slipped off the edge of the cliff falling more than 20 feet.
"I heard what sounded like a shoe slipping on rock," Eli said. "So I turned around and right as I turned around, he was about eye level with me as he was falling."
Smoker broke his femur, neck, pelvis, nine ribs and suffered internal bleeding in his brain. Just moments after the fall, McCaffrey sprung into action.
"We basically saw a man fall off a cliff, and we were kind of the only ones there," McCaffrey said. "You think you know what to do in a situation like that, but when it happens, all I did was call 911 and help out as much as I could, while my buddy Michael did chest compressions on him."
My heart definitely did drop at that point," Smoker's grandson said. "The only thing that was going through my head was, is my Grandpa going to die?
Mccaffrey recalled it took the medical team eleven minutes to arrive at their location and saved Smoker's life.
During the 11-minute wait, Eli rushed down to his grandfather and called his father Dan Smoker Jr. to tell him about the traumatic incident.
"Eli FaceTimed me, pointed his phone at my Dad, and it was at that point I saw him take a breath, so I knew he was at least alive," Smoker Jr. said. "To be honest, I had a moment of panic. He wasn't conscious, he wasn't moving at all, so I knew it was pretty bad."
Eli joined his grandfather in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, where he then fell into a 7-day drug-induced coma. During that span, McCaffrey and the men responsible for saving his life, joined the family in the hospital to check in on the 72-year-old.
"When you go through something like that, it's definitely traumatic and it's kind of crazy how it works," McCaffrey said. "It brings you together a little bit, and I am definitely trying to keep in touch with them, and they're a heck of a family, a great family."
One long week later, Smoker woke up in the hospital unaware of what had happened.
"I realized I was laying on a hospital bed, so I knew something drastic must have happened," Smoker Sr. said. "But it took a while to comprehend everything."
"They (doctors) asked him right away what his name was," Smoker's son said. "And he could say his name. Then he said a full sentence as well. That moment was absolutely incredible, lots of tears of joy shed."
The doctors told Smoker he would need at least 4 months to recover before returning home to Cincinnati, but it only took him half the recovery time to make the trip home. And when he finally did, the lifelong Bengals came back to quite the surprise; a set of signed jerseys from McCaffrey himself.
"He's a great human being, Smoker said. "So many times you hear negative things about NFL players, and this was just a positive story and he's a guy with very high integrity."
Not only that, but the second-year back sent tickets to the entire Smoker family to attend a Bengals-Panthers game later this season.
From my perspective I feel like, God had the right people there to protect me at that point," Smoker said. "It gives me a real appreciation for the good people out there.
"He's here and he's living now, which is great," McCaffrey said. "We didn't think he was going to make it but he's living now, and he's going to come out to a game this year which will be a lot of fun."
No. 22 still hasn't met the man whose life he helped save, but will finally have a chance come September 23rd at Bank of America Stadium.