Boy survives 100-foot dive in Grand Canyon

Tourists take pictures of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

A 13-year-old boy from North Dakota survives a fall of almost 100 feet on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Authorities said it took an ambulance crew two hours to rescue Wyatt Kaufman after he slipped on a rock and dived almost 100 feet on the Bright Angel Point Trail on Tuesday.

The teenager was airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital to be treated for nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, a concussion, a broken arm and a dislocated finger.

«I was on a ledge and had to step aside to other people might have taken the picture,” Kaufman told Phoenix KPNX.

“I squatted down and held on to a rock. I only held it with one hand.

“It wasn't a very good grip. It kind of pushed me back. I lost my grip and started to fall,” he added.

“Two hours is an eternity”

Rescuers had to climb down a cliff and pull the injured boy out of the canyon in a basket.

“I just remember waking up, being in the back of an ambulance and a helicopter and getting on a plane and getting here” to the hospital — said Kaufman, who lives in Casselton, North Dakota. Brian Kaufman was in North Dakota when he learned of his son's fall and rescue.

A National Park Service search and rescue team set up a rescue rope on a steep and narrow path and lifted the teen safely to the top. rim.

“We are extremely grateful to everyone for their work. Two hours is an eternity in this situation,” said Brian Kaufman. He said Wyatt and his mother were on a trip to visit the national parks when the Grand Canyon Fall happened.

Brian Kaufman said his son was released from the hospital on Saturday and was being driven home. Wyatt and his mom were expected to arrive in Casselton on Tuesday.

«We're just lucky we're taking our baby home in the front seat of the car instead of in a box,» Brian Kaufman told KPNX. .