Boy survives 100ft Grand Canyon fall after dodging tourist photo
A 13-year-old boy has survived after slipping and falling nearly 100ft (30m) at the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona.
It took rescue crews two hours to pull Wyatt Kauffman to safety on Tuesday after falling off a ledge at the popular tourist site’s North Rim. He was flown to hospital with serious injuries but has since been discharged.
Wyatt told a local television station he had fallen while moving out of the way so people could take pictures. He said he had been squatting down and holding onto a rock with one hand when he lost his grip and started to fall back. “After the fall, I don’t remember anything after that,” he told Phoenix television station KPNX while in hospital. “I just remember somewhat waking up and being in the back of an ambulance and a helicopter and getting on a plane and getting here.”
Among his injuries were nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, broken hand and a collapsed lung.
Dozens of emergency workers were involved in the rescue. Wyatt was pulled to safety by a team from the Grand Canyon National Park, who rappelled down a cliff after deciding a helicopter rescue would not be possible due to the terrain.
“We’re extremely grateful for the work of everyone,” said Wyatt’s father, Brian Kauffman, who was home in North Dakota at the time of the accident. “We’re just lucky we’re bringing our kid home in a car in the front seat instead of in a box.”
Wyatt had been at the Grand Canyon on trip with other members of his family, who told KPNX they intended to take a road trip home to replace the memories of the fall.
(BBC)
