Scott Faries/For The Bellingham Herald
Chris Gillard of Marysville stands near the lower falls of Twin Falls near Granite Falls on Saturday before he fell 100 feet from the falls.

Teen survives 100-foot fall: 'This is a miracle'

Twin Falls plunge leaves 16-year-old with broken back

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published May 31, 2001

GRANITE FALLS -- Chris Gillard will spend three months in a hard-plastic body brace. Then there will be nine months of rehabilitation to strengthen his broken back.

But he's alive -- after a 100-foot plunge from Twin Falls on Saturday, recovery of his unconscious body from the icy pool below and a midnight Army helicopter rescue among the cliffs.

"I told him, 'This is a miracle. There's no way you should live. God spared your life,' " said friend Scott Faries, a former Arlington High football star who with his brother, Joel, pulled Chris from the water. "He looked at me and said, 'I know. I know.' "

Chris, 16, of Marysville broke one of the vertebra in his back in three places. He was in satisfactory condition Wednesday at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Tuesday.

"This story has made such an impact on every person that's heard it here," said Chris' mother, Mary Gillard, who's been sleeping at the hospital next to her son.

Chris had gone hiking Saturday at Twin Falls, near Ashland Lakes in the Granite Falls area, with eight others from the Marysville First Assembly of God youth group.

They'd walked 4 miles to the waterfall and Faries, 21, was leaning over the cliff taking a picture of it. As Joel Faries, 19, and a couple of friends walked away from the edge, Chris -- trying to catch up with them -- slipped in the creek.

"It was too slimy, and it knocked his feet out from under him, and the water pressure was too much," Scott Faries said.

"He fell on his butt. He was sitting facing the waterfall, downstream. I turned around when I heard him fall," Faries said. He cried out to Chris to grab his hand, but the teen froze.

Then: "He shot out in the air and was free falling. He kind of corkscrewed."

They all watched in horror as Chris fell. After he'd plunged about 20 feet, his forehead struck a boulder on the face of the cliff. The impact spun his body and he landed in the water on his back.

Joel and Scott Faries immediately scrambled down the cliff.

"They were yelling at each other, 'He's going to die! He's going to die!' and calling back, 'I know! I know!' " Mary Gillard said.

When they reached the bottom, they plunged into the turbulent water. Joel reached Chris first -- after he had bobbed to the surface and then sunk, unconscious, about 5 feet below the surface.

Joel pulled Chris to the surface. Then Scott got him to some rocks about 50 yards away and they pulled him from the water.

Chris's only memory of the rescue is Scott's telling him to hang on, his mother said.

By then, other friends had arrived. John Sommers, a Navy diver and emergency medical technician, helped stabilize Chris. He noticed a large bulge on Chris' spine, and realized the teen's back was broken.

Joel Faries and Juan Robles, the fastest runners, were dispatched to the ranger station to summon help. Kelby Roodvant built a fire to help keep Chris warm while others ran for dry clothes and sleeping bags.

"We were surrounded by cliffs," Joel said. "We couldn't do anything."

At about 11:30 p.m., a Snohomish County Search and Rescue helicopter arrived, but it couldn't land at the falls. It set down about a mile away, and its crew headed in to where Chris lay, surrounded by friends.

About midnight, an Army helicopter arrived with a winch long enough to reach them and lowered a rescuer and a rescue cage. Chris was hoisted aboard and flown to Harborview.

His vertebra was crushed to 40 percent of its normal size, and doctors used bone from his hip to fuse his spine above and below the injury, his mother said. He has a slight bruise on his face -- no concussion -- from striking the rock with his forehead on the way down.

"The fact that he can move everything is amazing," his mother said.

When she reached his side, she says, "Christopher just put his arm around me and said, 'Come here, Mom.' And he gave me a kiss. He was trying to comfort me."

On the Web

Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (GORP): First Aid, Health, and Safety (www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/hiking/hikhow_fi.htm)

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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