An 18-year-old Conway man was released from the hospital Monday after falling 35 feet from a bluff in Newton County on Saturday.
Sam Roberts broke an arm and his back in the fall, said Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape.
Roberts is fortunate he is young and healthy and the weather was warm Saturday, Slape said.
“He’s a lucky boy,” said Slape. “The statistics were on his side.”
Roberts lost his footing and fell near Haley Zega Falls, which is about a quarter-mile from Hawksbill Crag, a sandstone rock outcrop that overlooks the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area, Slape said. The popular spot is also known asWhitaker Point.
Roberts fell about 3:30 p.m., Slape said. It was about 9:30 p.m. when rescue workers were able to carry him out to a waiting ambulance. With a storm approaching, a helicopter couldn’t be sent from the hospital, he said. And there was no cell-phoneservice, so Roberts’ friends had to walk to a house to get a land-line telephone connection, Slape said
About 40 emergency workers assisted with the rescue, the sheriff said.
Christy Hawkins, a spokesman for North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, said Roberts was in stable condition before being released Monday.
Ty Maple, Roberts’ roommate, was hiking with him Saturday. Maple said Roberts was “doing pretty good” Tuesday but was heavily medicated and in pain when awake.
Slape said several people have fallen from the bluffs around Hawksbill Crag since he became sheriff in January 2007. In December, Austin Elders, 19, of Fort Smith, fell about 100 feet in the area and later died of his injuries, Slape said.
Two hikers died in falls in Newton County in 2010. Dylan Meier, 26, of Pittsburg, Kan., died after falling 94 feet near Hawksbill Crag in April. And David Hadlock, 54, of Springdale, died after a fall in February.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/13/2013