Teenager survives 100-feet fall during family trip to Grand Canyon

‘I was up on the ledge and was moving out of the way so other people could take a picture’

Clouds pass over the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Grand Canyon Village (AP)

A 13-year-old boy from North Dakota survived a fall of nearly 100 feet at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon during a family trip.

Wyatt Kauffman was rescued after two hours of efforts following his fall at the steep Bright Angel Point trail on 8 August.

The teenager suffered nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung, a concussion, and a broken hand and dislocated finger. He was airlifted to a hospital in Los Angeles for treatment, authorities in Arizona said.

"I was up on the ledge and was moving out of the way so other people could take a picture," Wyatt told Phoenix TV station KPNX. "I squatted down and was holding onto a rock. I only had one hand on it."

He added: "It wasn't that good of a grip. It was kind of pushing me back. I lost my grip and started to fall back."

"I just remember somewhat waking up and being in the back of an ambulance and a helicopter and getting on a plane and getting here" to the hospital, said Wyatt, a resident of Casselton, North Dakota.

Rescue crews had to rappel down the cliff to pull the teenager out of the canyon in a basket. "After determining a helicopter rescue was not feasible, SAR [Search and Rescu] team members quickly set up a rope rescue and were able to safely raise him to the rim," the National Park service said in a statement.

Wyatt and his mother were on a trip to visit national parks when the accident took place, according to the teenager's father, Brian Kauffman, who was in North Dakota when he learned about his son's fall.

"We're extremely grateful for the work of everyone. Two hours is an eternity in a situation like that," Mr Kauffman told KPNX.

"We're extremely grateful for the work of everyone. Two hours is an eternity in a situation like that," he said.

Wyatt was discharged from the hospital on Saturday and is expected to reach Casselton on Tuesday.

"We're just lucky we're bringing our kid home in a car in the front seat instead of in a box," the father added.

A 33-year-old man fell to his death from a 4,000-foot-high tourist spot in the Grand Canyon Skywalk in June. The skywalk, which was opened in 2007, has a vertical drop between 500 and 800ft.

Deaths are relatively rare at the Grand Canyon, which was visited by more than six million people in 2018. There are about 12 deaths annually at the park on average.