Yellowstone visitor burned while trying to rescue dog from hot spring

Posted 10/7/21

A 20-year-old woman suffered severe burns on Monday when she attempted to rescue her dog from one of Yellowstone National Park’s thermal features.

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Yellowstone visitor burned while trying to rescue dog from hot spring

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A 20-year-old woman suffered severe burns on Monday when she attempted to rescue her dog from one of Yellowstone National Park’s thermal features.

The woman, identified by a family member as Lahai Slayton of Washington, had stopped near Fountain Flat Drive with her father, south of Madison Junction, when their dog ran into Maiden’s Grave Spring.

The woman then went into the hot spring to get the dog, suffering burns between her shoulders and feet, the National Park Service said in a news release. Slayton’s father pulled her out of the scalding water and drove to West Yellowstone, Montana, where she received initial treatment from park rangers and the Hebgen Basin Rural Fire District. Slayton was then transported to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.

In a post to the fundraising site GoFundMe, Slayton’s sister said the woman would be in a medically induced coma for two weeks, after suffering third-degree burns on 90% of her body. In the post, Slayton’s sister said the woman’s palms “were completely gone” and would require surgery, possibly along with other parts of her body. Slayton is expected to be in the hospital “for a few months,” according to the post.

The GoFundMe page seeks $45,000 for medical expenses — including for Slayton’s father, who burned his foot while pulling his daughter out of the hot spring — lodging, food and the cremation of the puppy, which died of its injuries.

Nearly $20,000 had been raised as of Wednesday, with the campaign accessible at https://gofund.me/07b01685.

The incident came just a few weeks after a 19-year-old woman from Rhode Island, who was working in the park for a concessionaire, suffered significant burns in a thermal area. The Park Service has released very few details about the Sept. 16 incident, but said that woman was life-flighted to Idaho Falls.

Following this week’s incident, Yellowstone officials reminded visitors that the ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, with scalding water just below the surface.

“Everyone must remain on boardwalks and trails and exercise extreme caution around thermal features,” they wrote.

Further, the release advised visitors to keep their pets under control at all times.

“Pets must be in a car, crate or on a leash no more than 6 feet long,” it said. “They are not allowed on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry, or in thermal areas.”

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