Escape from Brushy Mountain

When Randall Lee Smith came out of the woods and shot Scott Johnston and Sean Farmer, he changed their lives forever.

Scott Johnston: The-- the doctor told that the bullet that went in my neck missed my carotid artery by one millimeter.

Chris Hansen: One millimeter?

Scott Johnston: One millimeter. And I would have been dead.

Chris Hansen: You would have bled out.

Scott Johnston: I would have bled to death within five minutes.

Scott had to have extensive surgery on his neck, and was in the hospital for six days.

Scott Johnston: They weren't sure if I would ever talk or swallow again.  They even came to me, and-- and mentioned putting a feeding tube in.  And I refused.  I said, "Either I'll swallow, or I'll die."  That's what I told 'em.

Chris Hansen: And what was it like when you took that first breath on your own?

Scott Johnston: It was -- felt good. (laughing)

Scott still carries some grim reminders of that shooting.

Chris Hansen: Now, this ... would freak me out.

Scott Johnston: That-- that is a picture of the bullet that's in my back. It's still there.

Chris Hansen: Now, I'm not a radiologist, (laughter) but that looks awfully darn close to the spine.

Scott Johnston: Yeah.  It's-- it's possibly, you know, it's about a quarter inch from my spine or less.

Doctors said it was too dangerous to take that bullet out. And Sean Farmer's doctors told him the same thing about the bullets he took in the head and chest.

Chris Hansen: Where are the bullets now inside your body?

Sean Farmer: One is over by my rib area here, the one that went into my chest.  There's some shrapnel right here that I can feel.

Chris Hansen: Right.

Sean Farmer: And then a pretty-- pretty big scar here.  But as far as this one, I mean, ya know, that-- you can't even really tell that's a bullet-- wound right here.  But it's actually inside my sinus cavity.  I guess behind my nose in-- in here.

Chris Hansen: Are you gonna blow your nose one day and it comes out or--

Sean Farmer: --that is a possibility.  (laughter)

Chris Hansen: Seriously.

Sean Farmer: It is, yes. 

The two friends are also carrying around some new debt because of the shooting. Neither had medical insurance, and Scott's truck was a total loss.

Scott Johnston: Well, it's-- it's cost me a small fortune.  I mean, you know--

Chris Hansen: Gimme a sense for how much.

Scott Johnston: probably $70-80,000.

Chris Hansen: $70-80,000?

Scott Johnston: Yeah.

But they're alive, thanks to good luck, and some outstanding medical care.  Scott wanted to take us back to Carillion Roanoke hospital to meet some of the team that saved his life.

Nurses: Hey, great to see you...

Scott Johnston: Thank you so much. I owe you my life.

Chris Hansen: What's it like to see these gals here today?

Scott Johnston: It's wonderful.  I think about 'em all the time.  You know, I mean 'cause every day I think about the story and I mean it's always on my mind.  Thank y'all so much.

Nurse: Thank you for coming back.

Scott says he developed a special bond with nurse and patient advocate Judy Snipes.

Chris Hansen: Who do you think, at the end of the day, is most responsible for Scott and Sean's survival?

Judy Snipes: To be real honest, the two of them initially.  Their pulling together as a team, how they pulled off two of them trying to drive a truck over a road that's as windy as the road you saw, is to me almost an amazing feat.

Chris Hansen: What do you think saved you guys that night?

Scott Johnston: That's a good question. I mean-- just, you know, us.  Just be--  our friendship saved us.  Knowin' how we were both gonna react.  Just us bein', you know, young, healthy guys.  And-- and luck.

Even now, it seems impossible to the two friends that they survived the shooting, and that wild ride down the mountain.

Sean Farmer: And the thing was, ya know-- we communicated, but, like-- like I said, my mouth was swollen.  I couldn't say anything.

Scott Johnston: Yeah, he couldn't talk.

Sean Farmer: And miraculously, he could, even though had a hole in his neck.  He could talk fine.

Scott Johnston: Yeah.

Sean Farmer: But it just-- we just worked together to get down.

Chris Hansen: So, you got one-- one hand on your neck--

Scott Johnston: Yeah, one hand on my neck--

Chris Hansen: --keeping the blood inside your body.

Scott Johnston: --and one on the steering wheel.

Chris Hansen: And one on the steering wheel.

Scott Johnston: And-- and talk-- and talking him, ya know--

Chris Hansen: Gas, brake, gas, brake--

Scott Johnston: --with the pedals, gas, brake --down the mountain.

Tom Lawson: I was just thinking how useless this murder was, how uncalled for.

Tom Lawson - who is still pained by those 1981 murders - will never get his chance to ask Smith why he killed those two hikers. And Scott and Sean -- who somehow survived Smith's brutal attack -- will never get any answers, either.

Ironically, it was the gunman who did not survive that encounter at the dismal creek campground. Just a day after arriving at Tom Lawson's jail, Randall Lee Smith died...alone in his cell.

Chris Hansen: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Tom Lawson: I can only answer that from a personal perspective.  For seven and a half years for two people's lives, he died where he should a died.

Chris Hansen: In jail.

Tom Lawson: Yes, sir.

An autopsy revealed Smith died of the injuries he suffered when he crashed trying to elude police.

Sean Farmer: It couldn't have turned out any better for us.  I mean, we're both healthy, still here.  And he's not.  So--

Chris Hansen: That's the end of the story?

Sean Farmer: Yeah, pretty much the way it is.

And the two friends say as painful and as frightening as the shooting was, they have learned some life lessons from their brush with death.

Sean Farmer: Well, I'd say the most important part is, you know, just don't give up.  Ever. No matter what. 

Scott Johnston: And live life to the fullest.  And be thankful for all the things you have, because it could be taken from you in a split-second.

Sean Farmer: I'm just thankful that, you know, the beat goes on.  We'll hear some-- some more music.  And do some more fishing. And live life.

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