Washington, Aug 14, 2023 (IANS): A 13-year-old boy has survived after falling nearly 100 ft from the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona, the media reported on Monday.
It took dozens of rescue crews and a team from the Grand Canyon National Park two hours to pull Wyatt Kauffman to safety on August 8 after falling off a ledge at the popular tourist site’s North Rim, reports the BBC.
He was flown to hospital with serious injuries but has since been discharged.
Speaking to the Phoenix-based KPNX television station that 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, the BBC reported.
