Teen survives 100 ft fall in Grand Canyon after moving for tourist photo

A 13-year-old boy miraculously survived after falling almost 100 feet (30 meters) down the Grand Canyon in Arizona on Tuesday, authorities said.  

Wyatt Kauffman was visiting the Grand Canyon with his mother. They were at the popular tourist site and photo near the Bright Angel Point Trail in the canyon’s North Rim when the tragic accident happened. 

Kauffman was taking pictures and didn’t want to be in the way of other tourists taking photographs, so he decided to move out of the way.

He was squatting down and holding on to a rock when he lost his grip and fell back into the canyon.

“I was up on the ledge and was moving out of the way so other people could take a picture,” Wyatt told Phoenix television 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.”

With a helicopter rescue deemed unfeasible due to the high winds, a rescue team from the Grand Canyon National Park rappelled down the cliff and were able to retrieve Kauffman more than two hours after he fell off the ledge, the National Park Service said. 

“Team members implemented a high-angle technical rope rescue and were able to safely extract him,” the national park Service said in a statement.

He was flown to the hospital in critical condition. He suffered from nine broken vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, a broken hand, and a collapsed lung. He has since been discharged from the hospital. 

“I almost died. I was like inches away from death at that time,” said Kauffman.

Kauffman's family said they intended to take a road trip home to replace the memories of the fall.

"We're extremely grateful for the work of everyone," said Wyatt's father, Brian Kauffman. "We're just lucky we're bringing our kid home in a car in the front seat instead of in a box."