Brenda stated that she had the dog checked in Tanana ahead of her departure but vets could find no indication that the dog could not safely continue in the race. Brenda said she should have gone with her gut and sent the dog home, but she chose to take Jett with her as they headed to Galena. About thirty miles in Jett was clearly not doing well, and Brenda stopped the team. The dog collapsed and Brenda tried to call for help but her phone had no service in the area and she does not carry an inreach (sattelite phone).
Mackey thought she had pressed the SOS button several times, but after no help came she started thinking about having to run back to Tanana. Musher Emily Ford came up on the team and helped assess the dog, taking Jett's temerature. Brenda then chose to turn back around and head back the way she came.
In reaching the checkpoint Brenda found out that the ITC had not received the distress call. It is unclear as to why the race handed Brenda the scratch form - she did hit the SOS button but as she did not recieve outside assistance it remains unclear if it was a miscommunication or misunderstanding in the checkpoint that believed the musher was scratching. Nonetheless, Brenda signed the paper and ended her race.
The Iditarod released their original press release stating that Brenda had 14 *healthy* dogs on the line when she *chose* to scratch. Brenda wanted to make it clear Friday that one dog was not healthy, and that she didn't really CHOOSE to scratch. Words matter.
The Iditarod released a new statement Friday afternoon retracting their earlier statement giving more information and an apology for their original release.
"ITC Statement Regarding the Team of Iditarod Rookie, Brenda Mackey
Anchorage, Alaska – Rookie Iditarod musher, Brenda Mackey (bib #9), of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched on March 5 at 4:35 p.m. at the Tanana checkpoint in the best interest of her team. The original press release stated that Mackey had 14 dogs in harness when she arrived in Tanana, all in good health.
As more information has come from the checkpoint since that time, it is now understood that Mackey had 13 dogs in harness and one dog, Jett, resting in her sled due to health concerns that emerged approximately three hours after departing Tanana. Upon recognizing the issue, Mackey did make an attempt to activate her SOS button on her tracker, but unfortunately did not activate it correctly. Mackey made the decision to return to the checkpoint where Jett was promptly examined by Trail Veterinarians and flown to Anchorage. We are happy to report that Jett is seemingly in good condition and appears to be healthy and in high spirits.
The ITC apologizes for the miscommunication and any angst we may have caused Brenda, her team and her followers."
Mushers are given instruction in the musher meeting on which buttons on the tracker are the SOS button, it's given as a warning (so as not to accidently hit it) but also as a way to let mushers know it is there and able to use. There's another button that does not go directly to the race but to the company call center according to Brenda's facebook statement.
Whether or not it was a mistake on Brenda's part or a glitch in the system, no one can argue Brenda made anything but the right call.
No comments:
Post a Comment