Whoa. One harrowing rescue of one cold kid:

[cali]

13-Year-Old Rescued at Falls in Washington State

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press
SEATTLE May 20, 2012 (AP)

Swept down one waterfall and about to plunge over a much larger one, a 13-year-old boy managed to climb onto a 1-foot-wide rock shelf in a gushing Washington state river — and then stayed there for eight and a half hours until rescuers finally saved him early Sunday, sheriff's officials said.

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The boy slipped on some rocks, and the water carried him down a 10-foot waterfall. Somehow, just before he would have fallen over the 270-foot main attraction, he pulled himself out of the whitewater and onto a narrow, sloping shelf the water had carved in a rock wall.

<snip>


Rescuers first tried to reach him by helicopter, but the rock overhanging the shelf prevented them from dropping straight down. Instead, a helicopter crew dropped two rescuers 200 yards below him.

The rescuers climbed above the rock overhang, and then worked as a team — one rappelling down, the other belaying. Their goal was just to reach him and place him in a harness that would keep him safe until others arrived, said Deputy Bill Quistorf, chief pilot for the sheriff's air support unit.

As one rappelled down, he tried to swing his body under the overhang. His rope, rubbing against the rock, snapped, and he plunged into the whitewater. Only his secondary rope saved him from going over the big falls, and he made it to shore with minor injuries.

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/13-year-rescued-falls-washington-state-16390524#.T7lmplJ9Z_Y

[yewberry]

1. Wow, lucky kid.

Glad to hear every escaped with minor injuries. Many of the rivers in these parts are melt-water, so that water's COLD.