A bucket-list trip to the Grand Canyon turned nightmarish when a 13-year-old boy from North Dakota survived an over 70-foot (over 21-metre) fall from a cliff on Tuesday.
Wyatt Kauffman told the local Phoenix television station 12 News he lost his balance at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. He said he had moved along the steep, narrow path to avoid being captured in another tourist’s photo.
The National Park Service said Kauffman fell between 70 and 100 feet (about 21 to 30 metres) below Bright Angel Point, where he’d been standing. Wyatt, who was travelling with his mother, said he was holding onto a rock for balance with just one hand before he slipped.
“It wasn’t that good of a grip. It was kind of pushing me back. I lost my grip and started to fall back,” he said. “After the fall, I don’t remember anything.”
The Grand Canyon National Park’s Search and Rescue (SAR) team executed a mission to save Wyatt. It took about 40 rescuers nearly two hours to find and rescue the teen, as the SAR team had to use ropes and a basket to raise him back to the North Rim.
Wyatt was airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas. 12 News reported the plunge left the teen with nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, a concussion, a broken hand and a dislocated finger. He is in stable condition and was reportedly released from hospital Saturday.
Wyatt’s father, Brian Kauffman, was at home in North Dakota when he received word of his son’s accident. He said the two-hour wait for Wyatt’s rescue felt like an “eternity.” Kauffman said he purchased a ticket for the first flight out to Vegas.
“It was one of the most heart-wrenching phone calls I’ve ever had,” Kauffman said. “We were just lucky we’re bringing our kid home in a car, in the front seat, instead of in a box.”
Kauffman said the family will be driving back home to North Dakota, and they hope the road trip will bring better memories for all of them.
The Grand Canyon SAR team said they respond to more than 300 emergency calls every year, with reports ranging from illness to falls like Wyatt’s.
“I can say with great confidence that they put to use advanced medical skills in an austere environment that are rarely executed in most other places,” said Meghan Smith, the park’s preventive search and rescue supervisor. “It’s clear that their training and hard work paid off, leading to a smooth, timely operation that will no doubt lead to better outcomes for this patient.”
The park has asked for visitors to Bright Angel Point to always keep a safe distance of at least six feet (two metres) from the edge of the rim. Grand Canyon guests should never climb over any barriers or fencing.
About 12 people every year die at the Grand Canyon, though falling is not often the fatal hazard — many succumb to natural causes, including heat and hydration-related issues. The odds of dying from falling off a cliff in the Grand Canyon are reportedly one in 1.8 million visitors.
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