‘Modern Family’ Alum Julie Bowen Saves Hiker’s Life After Fainting in Utah National Park

Modern Family star Julie Bowen played a real-life superhero for one New Jersey woman during a trip to Arches National Park in Utah. Minnie John, an avid traveler in her 50s, fainted and fell during her hike. She was awoken by a “familiar voice” that belonged to none other than the two-time Emmy winner. Bowen’s sister, Annie Luetkemeyer, who is a doctor, also helped save John’s life.

John shared her experience on Facebook on Aug. 3, as well as photos with Bowen and Luetkemeyer. John, her husband Shaji, and their son Brandon flew to Las Vegas, then drove six hours to the Delicate Arch at Arches National Park. She “felt the need to climb” as soon as possible because she recently had an artificial knee implant and had not walked much since the surgery, she told NorthJersey.com.

As she neared the top of the climb, she began to feel sick. “I just felt something coming over me like I’m going to pass out. I just felt very lightheaded,” John said. Shaji and Brandon told John she should continue walking, but she decided to sit on a rock instead. She felt dizzy, then fell over and fainted. She did not remember the fall, but she did remember waking up to a voice she knew. “Next thing I hear someone with a familiar voice kept asking me questions. I wondered if I might be watching tv,” John wrote on Facebook. “My eyes were closed and they said I will be fine and they were cleaning my face and bandaging me up. I heard that familiar voice saying I am going to be ok, a doctor is cleaning me up.”

After helping John, Bowen asked her if she knew who she was. She said “Modern Family,” and John instantly knew. “I told her she was so beautiful. She introduced me to her sister Annie, the doctor, and she is, of course, Julie Bowen,” John wrote. Bowen and other good Samaritans called her family, who continued climbing. When they got back to John, Bowen agreed to pose for a picture.

“She gave me a hug and then both of them gave me hugs,” John told NorthJersey.com. “Then they told me you got dehydrated, you know, that’s what it is.” John thanked “her angels” for helping her and believes God was “watching over her” to make sure the fall was not worse. “I praise God and give him all the glory. I thank him for sending me those angels, those good Samaritans,” she said.

John was taken to Moab Regional Hospital later and got five stitches to her face. She was treated for a fractured nose. She is now home recovering in Oradell, New Jersey.

Bowen, 51, didn’t share John’s story on Instagram, but she did post pictures from Moab. Bowen played Claire Dunphy on all 11 seasons of Modern Family, earning two Emmys for Oustanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She recently starred in Adam Sandler’s Netflix comedy Hubie Halloween.