In a miraculously lucky escape, a teenager has somehow survived a 100ft fall at the Grand Canyon.
Wyatt Kaufmann, 13, was moving out of the way for some tourists to take a photo when he plunged towards what seemed like it would be certain death.
The terrifying incident happened last Tuesday (August 8) and saw rescue crews take over two hours to pull the teenager back up to safety after he fell from a ledge at the North Rim, a popular tourist spot at the Canyon.
Thirteen-year-old Wyatt was on a family trip from North Dakota to the national park in Arizona, on the Bright Angel Point Trail. He was flown to a Las Vegas hospital with serious injuries but has since been discharged.
Wyatt required treatment for a myriad of gruesome injuries, including nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, a concussion, a broken hand and a dislocated finger.
Speaking to Phoenix television station KPNX during his hospital stay, Wyatt said, “I was up on the ledge and was moving out of the way so other people could take a picture. I squatted down and was holding on to a rock.
“I only had one hand on it. It wasn’t that good of a grip. It was kind of pushing me back. I lost my grip and started to fall back.
“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 [to the hospital].”
Dozens of emergency workers were involved in the rescue operation to save the 13-year-old, which saw a team from the Grand Canyon National Park rappel down the cliff, setting up a rope rescue to lift Wyatt back to safety after it had been decided that a helicopter rescue would not be possible.
Following his airlift to Las Vegas, Wyatt was then flown to a pediatric trauma center to receive further care. His father, Brian Kaufmann, wasn't with the family at the time of the terrifying incident, but was instead back home in North Dakota when he heard the news of his son't fall.
“We’re extremely grateful for the work of everyone. Two hours is an eternity in a situation like that,” Kaufmann said when interviewed about Wyatt's accident.
“We’re just lucky we’re bringing our kid home in a car in the front seat instead of in a box," the relieved father added.
Brian also revealed that the family would be making a return trip back to the Canyon to ensure they have pleasant memories instead of traumatic ones. Wyatt was discharged from hospital on Saturday (August 12).
Last year, according to the National Park Service site there were 1,086 emergency medical service incidents and 11 fatalities at the Grand Canyon National Park, as listed on the National Park Service site. Since the Canyon was officially unveiled as a National Park on February 26. 1919, 900 people have died there, as of April of this year.
The odds of dying from falling off the rim in the Grand Canyon are 1 in 1.8 million visitors.
There are roughly 5 million visitors at the Grand Canyon every year, and on average two to three deaths per year are from accidental falls over the rim, according to park spokeswoman Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski.
