A mother and her son from Illinois leaped into the icy Niagara Falls gorge banks from a 90-foot cliff. After the jump, the mom passed away, but her child miraculously lived.
The woman, 34, who has not been identified, is believed to have leapt on purpose from Goat Island in Niagara State Park at around 12.30 p.m. on February 12 after scaling a railing, according to state police.
Her body was discovered close to the Cave of the Winds complex, which is located on the Canadian side of the falls that form the US-Canada border.
The mother passed away, and her body was flown from the bank, but the 5-year-old son was saved and taken with a head injury to a children’s hospital in Buffalo. The youngster underwent surgery, and as of the next day, his condition was critical.
Moments after the disaster, the youngster can be seen in photos obtained by DailyMail.com appearing to be conscious as they are being placed into an ambulance.
He was brought to the truck for stabilization, and shortly after that, he was hoisted onto a helicopter and transported away for urgent care.
The mother, her husband, and son were guests from Illinois when the accident occurred. The husband and other witnesses were being questioned by police, according to the police.
The investigation is ongoing, but according to Capt. Chris Rola of the New York State Parks Police, “we don’t believe it is an accident.”
On Thursday, a representative of the state police stated that the incident was being investigated as a suicide attempt.
Rescuers were able to quickly descend because the two fell into the gorge near the Cave of the Winds elevator. Firefighters from Niagara Falls were able to reach the mother and son’s landing spot by climbing up the ice from the bottom of the gorge.
The youngster was able to be carried to the elevator, brought to an island parking lot, and then flown in a helicopter to Oishei Children’s Hospital.
The woman was declared dead at the scene, and evacuated out of the gorge with her body.
Rola stated at a press conference on Monday in the late afternoon that “Niagara Falls is a tricky area to execute rescues.” The youngster was stable enough for them to carry him outside and up the elevator to an ambulance that was waiting.
‘Unfortunately, the female is did not make it,’ he added, adding that the Niagara County Corner was taking the woman after the New York State Police Aviation section recovered her.
According to officials, rescuers had to cross 300 feet of hazardous frozen terrain in order to reach the victims.
Although it’s gorgeous outside today, it’s really icy down there, so it was very difficult terrain that our guys and gals were able to get through to reach them, give them that life-saving care, and do whatever they could, said Rola.
According to New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan, “We are not publishing any names due to the likelihood that this case was a suicide” he said to Buffalo News on Thursday.
