Girl In Gorge Accident Still Hospitalized
Mother says daughter has skull and vertebrae fractures.
The mother of the girl who was seriously injured in a fall along the Glenn's Trail at Gorge Metro Park last weekend says she has fractures in her skull and vertabrae but apparently no paralysis.
"She is serious but stable," Lisa Saunders wrote in an email. "She is able to eat on her own, knows where she is and remembers everything about the accident. Her legs are not yet working (from leg injuries). Will be in a neck collar for a while."
The girl and a group of friends had gone swimming in the Cuyahoga River on Saturday along the trail behind the American Legion post on Front Street.
According to the incident report from Metroparks rangers, the group was "climbing back of the hill from swimming in the river, and when the reach the top (name redacted) fell back down."
The fall victim was one of four juveniles who were “significantly off-trail” from Glens Trail and illegally swimming in the Cuyahoga River, Tim Hite, a spokesman for Summit County Metro Parks, told the Falls News Press.
The Gorge has some dangerously steep banks and has been the site of injuries and accidental deaths.
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Kate Bigam
12:43 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Glad to hear that she's stable & hope she recovers quickly & fully. I'm curious to know whether the police will press charges against these kids for breaking the law? Without meaning to sound insensitive, this case makes it clear that those laws exist for good reason.
wmfr
2:14 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Would be nice to give the family some privacy too.
Michelle
9:47 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Kate-I dont think now is the time to be making comments about charging the teens. Why don't you put yourself in the mothers’ shoes, imagine this is your child, your first concern would be making sure that she is ok. Also, do you know the whole story? Are signs posted saying "no swimming," or "no trespassing?" The first and most important is that she is ok. My prayers are with the family, but I know she will pull through this because she is a fighter! Prayers for the family
Kate Bigam
9:58 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Michelle, I mean no disrespect to the girl or her family. Of *course* my first concern would be that she's OK! But as a trained reporter myself, my first instinct is often to think of other questions & what comes next - & frankly, just because someone was injured while breaking the law doesn't mean they haven't broken the law. If you're hurt in a car accident while turning left on a red light, you still get ticketed for breaking traffic laws; I know of a girl who was hospitalized after being hit by a car while jaywalking, & she woke up to police in her hospital room writing her a ticket! It sounds appalling, but it happens, & to some extent, I believe that it should happen. However, it's disingenuous to insinuate that because I asked, I somehow don't care about the people involved. As I said, I hope she makes a full & speedy recovery.
edward
10:41 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
well i was reading this and decided to put my 2 cents in. when i was a kid i used to go all threw the place where the accident happened and the gorge fishing hiking and so on. just being a kid so now in this day and age now its a crime so then when they put in white water rafting they should be prosecuted then? fact of the matter is this i have never seen a sign that says no tresspassing so as a "trained reporter" im sure you went by there. i would like to see the sign posted on the trails and yes there is a trail there. so if someone veers off the trail and gets hurt lets get the law involved. i mean come on people get real go after the people who are robbing people and killing people for money. to me thats breaking the law. just an old soldiers oppinion
Kate Bigam
10:43 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
You're entitled to yours just as I'm entitled to mine. No need for rudeness; I don't believe I've displayed any.
kevin b
10:43 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
As a friend of the family and victim I wanna say kids will be kids and I think she has suffered and learned a great lesson and I feel that being charge for crime is something that family and victim doesn't need on their shoulders right now
Kate Bigam
10:44 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
You guys are making me sorry I ever asked. It was a pretty simple question. I didn't mean to, like, barrel in & say she *should* be charged. I was just curious as to whether Patch knew if this was part of the story or not. Clearly it's a non-issue. I am happy to drop it.