13-Year-Old Boy survives in Wallace Falls in Washington

  

A 13-year-old boy from the Seattle suburb of Burien, had gone hiking with his father and friend, when he waded in the river just above Wallace Falls in Washington state’s Cascade foothills. He slipped and then fell — fortunately only 10 feet down a small waterfall. If he had stumbled again, he might have fallen down the entire Wallace Falls — at about 27 stories high.

The boy managed to climb up and onto a narrow shelf, only about 1-foot-wide, up the roaring waterfall, where he stayed there for an astounding eight and half hours, until he was rescued. He remained crouched down with his back to the wall, which was a good thing because any exhaustion might have led him into succumb to the current and down the falls.

“He’s a pretty lucky kid,” said County Sheriff Lt. Suzy Johnson commented after the rescue. The boy had been flown off the waterfall via helicopter from a lower point during a second rescue attempt, after the first attempt from above proved impassable. In the end, the boy survived with mild hypothermia but didn’t require immediate medical attention. He now lives with the memory of what’s it like to be stuck between rock and a wet and flowing hard place.