The Brief
- A 15-year-old boy was rushed to a Tucson trauma center in critical condition after falling nearly 30 feet into the water at Carr Canyon Falls on Friday.
- Severe monsoon weather and rugged terrain grounded civilian air ambulances, forcing an Arizona DPS Air Rescue helicopter to perform a complex hoist extraction from the canyon floor.
- As the Sheriff’s Office investigates the incident, search and rescue officials urge visitors to exercise extreme caution, warning that the waterfall’s wet rocks are notoriously treacherous.
HEREFORD, Ariz. – A 15-year-old boy is in a Tucson trauma center with critical injuries after falling nearly 30 feet into the water at Carr Canyon Falls late Friday afternoon.
What we know:
Cochise County Sheriff’s deputies say the teen was found face down in the water, prompting a multi-agency response that culminated in a dramatic helicopter hoist rescue — one that involved “four agencies and seamless coordination in a real world situation,” sheriff’s officials said — through severe monsoon weather.
Emergency crews from the Fry and Sierra Vista fire departments were dispatched just before 5 p.m. to the rugged canyon. When first responders arrived, family members and bystanders were already administering first aid to the severely injured teenager at the bottom of the falls. Paramedics immediately took over life-saving measures to treat his traumatic injuries.…