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PROVO — An 11-year-old Orem boy is in critical condition Sunday afternoon after he fell over 200 feet just east of the popular Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon.
According to Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the boy was hiking with several family members on a trail near the falls when he tumbled down a scree field, that is, the remains of a rock slide.
The boy sustained serious injuries to the head and back and a possible broken collar bone in the drop, though the fall was not straight down, Cannon said. The incident happened at 3:48 p.m.
It's not clear whether the boy lost consciousness, but he was unable to remember the incident, indicating there may be serious head injuries, Cannon said.
Officials said that it took roughly an hour and 15 minutes to get the boy down from the mountain due to the challenging terrain and the need to keep medical personnel safe. A technical lowering system was set up to take him down roughly 250 feet to the base of the mountainside.
He was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition.
More information will be posted when it becomes available.
Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba, Whitney Evans
Photo courtesy of Franz Kelsch via the ksl.com iWitness app.
