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US teen walks off 120-ft cliff while hallucinating due to altitude sickness; in coma
The boy, identified as Zane Wach, fell from Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in front of his father on June 10.
A 14-year-old boy from California walked off a 120-feet cliff while hallucinating due to altitude sickness.
The boy, identified as Zane Wach, fell from Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in front of his father on June 10, according to the New York Post. He is currently in a medically induced coma.
He sustained severe injuries including head trauma, a broken ankle, finger and pelvis, the New York Post reported citing SFGate.
Zane's father Ryan Wach said that during the 19 hour-hike, his son began showing signs of altitude sickness, following which both of them started climbing down the mountain.
Ryan told The Independent that Zane's altitude sickness was “not too severe” initially, adding that he was confident about his son's ability. “He’s in better shape than I am," Ryan said. He further said that his son had hiked previously and used to regularly compete in distance running, swimming and triathlons.
Therefore, Ryan said that he thought the hike could be an introduction to mountaineering for Zane. But once the tough parts of the hike were over, Ryan exhibited signs of altitude sickness, compelling his father to take a safer route to trace the seven mile-descent to their car.
However, Ryan said that things started to get worse as they started climbing down the mountain.
Zane started to experience hallucinations, his father said, adding that the teenager was aware of his condition. “He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog,” Ryan told SFGate.
‘He essentially started to doubt reality’
The father said that he was keeping a close eye on his son, but his symptoms got “considerably better” after a while. But an hour later, Zane once again started hallucinating and "essentially started to doubt reality”.
On their way down the trail, Zane told his father that they had already completed the hike “multiple times over”. Recalling this as “completely bizarre”, Ryan said that Zane's behaviour could be a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, dehydration and the effect of altitude sickness.
“He told me he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, ‘This is not real.’ Like he was in the movie ‘Inception’ or something," Ryan said.
While a separate group of hikers called for a search and rescue team to get Zane down the mountain, the teenager seemed like he was “sleepwalking”. “He started dragging his feet and stopped in his tracks,” Ryan said, adding that Zane did not want to continue.
The teenager tried to get near the slope twice, once telling his father that he was going to the car, and the second time saying he was getting dinner.
Seeing Zane's behaviour, Ryan became emotional and let him go briefly, according to the New York Post. “This time, I didn’t hear it until he was about at the edge, and when I went to reach for him, he was 10 feet away from me. I couldn’t get him, and he walked off the edge," Ryan said.
Following this, Ryan ran to get his son, meeting an EMT on the way, who helped with relief efforts. However, it took six hours for Zane to be rescued from the mountain.
He was then taken to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine, and later shifted to the Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas, according to SFGate. Ryan said that his son's condition was improving, and that he had opened his eyes briefly on Wednesday.
A GoFundMe campaign to pay for Zane's medical expenses has collected $23,000, which will also assist the family with their travel costs, lodging and more.
“It’s going to be a survival story in the end, but right now we’re still in the middle of it,” Zane's father Ryan said.
