Alaska Teacher Survives 1927 Gunshot, Praised Rescuers
In 1927, a young Alaska schoolteacher accidentally shot herself and survived a harrowing rescue across frozen wilderness. Despite months of recovery preventing her return north, John Bess Howe credited Alaskans' kindness as much as medical care for saving her life.
When 22-year-old schoolteacher John Bess Howe accidentally shot herself while cleaning a gun in remote Ninilchik, Alaska, her survival depended on a chain of strangers willing to help.
On November 20, 1927, the bullet pierced her abdomen, leaving five holes in her intestines. She waited in agony for days before residents, a fox farmer, a radio operator, and a pilot flew her to Anchorage for emergency surgery.
After nearly a month recovering in Alaska, doctors transferred Howe to Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. Her mother traveled from rural Texas to be by her side as she faced weeks more of recovery.
Reporters swarmed the story of the young woman's dramatic rescue from the frozen north. But Howe told a Seattle journalist that the publicity hurt worse than the injury itself.
"The worst thing about the whole affair is all this publicity," she said from her hospital bed. "The wonderful thing about it was the operation and the great skill of the doctors."
Why This Inspires
What moved Howe most wasn't the medical miracle, but the compassion of ordinary Alaskans who refused to let her die. In a letter written during her recovery, she credited their kindness as powerfully as any surgery.
"The kind interest of the Alaskans has done as much, almost, toward my recovery as the medical aid," she wrote to friends up north.
By February 1928, Howe had returned home to Texas. She desperately wanted to go back to Alaska, writing letters throughout the year expressing her hope to return by summer.
Her doctor and parents wouldn't allow it. They insisted she needed more time to heal completely before making such a demanding journey.
In August, she wrote an open letter to an Alaska newspaper apologizing for her absence. She explained that gaining her parents' consent would require at least another year of recovery time.
Howe never did make it back to the Last Frontier. Instead, she built a full life in Texas, marrying Charles Francis Fancher in 1930 and living for decades more.
At 73, she was crowned Old Settlers Queen during the Seymour Reunion and Rodeo. The young woman who nearly died in the Alaskan wilderness had gone on to thrive, carrying gratitude for her rescuers throughout her long life.
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This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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