Latest news with #Wach
Los Angeles Times
30-06-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Teen Mt. Whitney hiker who walked off 120-foot cliff in delirium makes slow recovery, family says
A California teen who walked off a cliff while experiencing altitude-related hallucinations on the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states has begun a slow recovery but remains in a medically induced coma, his family said. Early this month, Zane Wach, 14, ascended Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada with his father, Ryan, an experienced hiker, on the Mountaineer's Route — an eight-mile route described as 'steep' and 'unmaintained' by the Sierra Mountain Center. As the Wachs began their descent toward their car on a safer route, Zane began to experience hallucinations of 'snowmen,' on the trail and was in an 'altered mental state,' Ryan Wach told SFGate. 'It was completely bizarre,' Wach said in an interview with SFGate. 'He told me he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, 'This is not real.' Like he was in the movie 'Inception' or something.' Mt. Whitney's peaks draw 30,000 hikers each year and an average of two suffer fatal injuries annually, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Climbers who wish to ascend during peak spring and summer months, between May 1 and Nov. 1, must apply for a permit through a lottery system, which limits the mountain to 100 climbers per day and only 60 for 'difficult' overnight climbs. The Mountaineer's Route is a path for experienced hikers to ascend to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which is over 14,000 feet in elevation. It is unclear whether the Wachs reached the summit, but according to the CDC, any travelers reaching altitudes of 8,000 feet — sometimes lower — are susceptible to altitude sickness and symptoms, such as confusion and feelings of 'intoxication,' that are usually associated with brain swelling. Zane phased in and out of delirium as they continued their descent, and the two stopped periodically to take a rest while Zane attempted to regain lucidity, Wach told the Independent. His son would 'sleepwalk' away from his father toward the edges of the trail, Wach added. Another group of hikers, including an EMT, evaluated Zane's condition once they noticed his mental deterioration. Wach told the Independent that once he briefly took his eyes off of his son, Zane 'veered' toward the edge of a deep slope and fell an estimated 120 feet. 'I didn't see how there would be a way for him to survive it, so I screamed. I was yelling 'no,'' Wach told the Independent. However, Zane was semi-conscious when his father reached him, and the nearby hikers contacted rescue teams, Wach said. The Inyo County Search and Rescue team worked for around six hours to rescue Zane as his father attempted to keep him warm, authorities said. Zane was flown to the Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas, the nearest pediatric trauma center, according to the family's GoFundMe. While Zane had suffered head trauma and was put into a medically-induced coma, he was spared any major bodily injury. Wach told SFGATE that his son fractured an ankle and a finger and broke a part of his pelvis. Zane remains in a medically-induced coma, but began to breathe without medical assistance nearly three weeks after his fall in a 'giant milestone' toward his recovery, Wach said in a post on Facebook shared by Zane's grandmother. Wach added that doctors are currently attempting to wean Zane off heavy medication. 'He's been on a lot of heavy drugs for a while and getting off those is extremely hard and painful,' Wach wrote. 'As parents, it's terrible to watch. We hope he gets through this with the least possible suffering,'
Sky News AU
30-06-2025
- Health
- Sky News AU
Haunting words 14-year-old son said as he hallucinated, walked off 36m high cliff in California in front of terrified father
A 14-year-old California boy walked off a 120-foot cliff in front of his horrified father — telling him he saw 'snowmen and Kermit the frog' while hallucinating from altitude sickness. Zane Wach is now in a medically induced coma from the fall on Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range on June 10 that left him with severe head trauma, as well as a broken ankle, finger and pelvis, according to SFGate. The frightening events unfolded as the pair made their way down the mountain, but dad Ryan Wach initially had no doubts about his son's ability to handle the hike. 'He's in better shape than I am,' Wach told the outlet, adding that his son had hiking experience and was an active teen who competed in distance running, swimming and triathlons. 'The idea was that this would be kind of like his introduction to mountaineering.' However, as the father and son were on the journey up the mountain, Zane slowly started exhibiting symptoms of altitude sickness, his father said. Wach noticed his son was having issues, but they had already finished the toughest parts of the hike. He decided to take an easier trail to ensure a safer seven-mile descent back to their car. But as they were heading toward the trailhead, Wach said Zane started to 'experience some hallucinations.' 'He knew he was hallucinating,' Wach said. 'He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.' Wach said he was keeping a close eye on his son as they made their way down the trail and noticed that he looked 'considerably better.' About an hour later, however, Zane again started acting strangely and began doubting 'reality.' 'My best guess is a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, probably some dehydration, and lasting effects from the altitude sickness. But he essentially started to doubt reality.' As they continued their trip down the trail, Wach said they had to stop after Zane told his father they had 'already finished the hike multiple times over.' 'It was completely bizarre,' Wach recalled. 'He told me he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, 'This is not real.' Like he was in the movie 'Inception' or something.' Zane's deteriorating state of mind prompted a separate group of hikers nearby to call for a search and rescue team to get him down the mountain. However, around that same time, things went from bad to worse with Zane's behavior, his father said. 'He was worse than before,' Wach told the Independent. 'He almost seemed like he was sleepwalking. He started dragging his feet and stopped in his tracks,' Ryan said. 'He didn't want to go on.' Wach said his son started making erratic movements toward a ledge near the trail with a steep, jagged slope, but he grabbed him before he could go over. The 14-year-old told his father that he was going to the car — despite it being several thousand feet below their current location on the mountain. Later, he tried again to move toward the slope but was stopped by Wach, with Zane now telling him that he was trying to get 'dinner.' Wach felt overwhelmed trying to keep Zane safe and became emotional, tearing up and briefly letting him go. 'I had to wipe away tears. I was holding my hands to my eyes, and he walked off again,' Wach told SFGate. 'This time, I didn't hear it until he was about at the edge, and when I went to reach for him, he was 10 feet away from me. I couldn't get him, and he walked off the edge.' Zane fell an estimated 120 feet down the slope before hitting the ground. Wach said he bolted down the slope to get to his son when a nearby hiker, who happened to be an EMT, noticed what happened and started helping with the rescue efforts. Zane was left on the slope for about six hours as the Inyo County Search & Rescue teams worked to get him off the mountain. He was airlifted to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine, and later flown to the nearest pediatric trauma center, Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas. However, given the extent of the fall, doctors at Sunrise said it was 'fairly miraculous' that he wasn't injured further, his father told the outlet. In a GoFundMe set up to help with Zane's medical bills, Wach said his son is 'improving' and briefly opened his eyes on Wednesday, but 'still has a long way to go.' Hallucinations are a serious sign of altitude sickness, specifically high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), where the brain swells due to a lack of oxygen, according to the Cleveland Clinic. HACE affects less than 1% of people who reach an altitude of 13,000 to 18,000 feet above sea level. Originally published as Haunting words 14-year-old son said as he hallucinated, walked off 36m high cliff in California in front of terrified father
Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Teen hiker's haunting final five words before walking off 120ft cliff
Zane Wach, 14, was hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California with his dad when he started to suffer from the effects of altitude sickness and walked off a cliff A teenager walked off a 120ft cliff after seeing 'snowmen and Kermit the frog' while hallucinating due to altitude sickness. Ryan Wach has told how he and his 14-year-old son Zane were hiking Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in California, when the youngster became unwell. He was just out of reach of his horrified dad when he fell and is now in a medically induced coma having suffered severe head trauma as well as breaking his pelvis, ankle and finger. He had begun talking about seeing snowmen and Kermit the frog along with other nonsensical comments as he suffered hallucinations before walking off the 120ft cliff. 'He told me he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not,' said Ryan. 'And then he said he was going to the car. But the car was thousands of feet below us.' Mr Wach said his son had plenty of hiking experience and was active in sports including running, swimming and triathlon. But during the hike, Zane began to suffer altitude sickness symptoms and after doing the toughest part of the climb they were going on an easier trail back to the car when the incident happened. 'He knew he was hallucinating,' Mr Wach told SFGate. 'He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.' He was keeping a close check on his son and thought he was improving but then an hour later Zane reportedly started to 'doubt reality'. He said: 'My best guess is a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, probably some dehydration, and lasting effects from the altitude sickness. But he essentially started to doubt reality.' Zane also began to make nonsensical comments such as saying they had already finished the hike. A separate group of hikers witnessing the situation called search and rescue to help them. The teenager began to make erratic movements towards a ledge over a ravine and his dad managed to stop him in time. Another time he said that he was 'going for dinner' as he kept trying to go towards the cliff edge. Mr Wach told how the situation was becoming too much for him and his son got out of his reach before falling. 'I had to wipe away tears. I was holding my hands to my eyes, and he walked off again,' said Mr Wach. 'This time, I didn't hear it until he was about at the edge, and when I went to reach for him, he was 10 feet away from me. I couldn't get him, and he walked off the edge.' A hiker with medical experience went to the aid of Zane before Inyo County Search & Rescue teams arrived. It took about six hours to get him off the mountain. He was airlifted to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine, and later flown to the nearest paediatric trauma centre, Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas. A GoFundMe page has been set up by a friend to help support the family and so far it has raised more than $25,000 (£18,000). It states: "We started this campaign because so many of you have asked for a tangible way to help, and while their family is so fortunate to have good health care, there are many other expenses which they will incur on this long journey towards rehabilitation. Zane was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Las Vegas, where he is surrounded by his family who traveled from California to be with him."
NDTV
27-06-2025
- Health
- NDTV
US Teen Walks Off 120-Foot Cliff While Hallucinating Due To Altitude Sickness
A 14-year-old boy in the US is in a medically induced coma after walking off a 120-foot slope right in front of his father while hallucinating due to altitude sickness. According to the New York Post, the boy, identified as Zane, was hiking with his father, Ryan Wach, on June 10 when the incident took place. He suffered severe head trauma from the fall and remains comatose. The teen also broke an ankle, a finger and part of his pelvis. According to the father, the 14-year-old described seeing "snowmen and Kermit the Frog" before walking off the slope. The frightening events unfolded as the father-son duo made their way down Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The father said that initially, he had no doubts about his son's ability to handle the hike, as he had hiking experience and was an active teen who competed in distance running, swimming and triathlons. "The idea was that this would be kind of like his introduction to mountaineering," Mr Wach said, per the outlet. However, as the pair were on the journey up the mountain, the 14-year-old slowly started exhibiting symptoms of altitude sickness, the father said. He shared that he noticed his son was having issues, but they had already finished the toughest parts of the hike, so they decided to take an easier trail to ensure a safer seven-mile descent back to their car. But this is when things took an unexpected turn. As the duo were heading toward the trailhead, the father said that his son started to "experience some hallucinations". "He knew he was hallucinating," Mr Wach said, adding, "He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog." The father said he was keeping a close eye on his son throughout the trial, and at one point, Zane also looked "considerably better". But about an hour later, the 14-year-old again started acting strangely and began doubting "reality," the father said. "My best guess is a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, probably some dehydration, and lasting effects from the altitude sickness. But he essentially started to doubt reality," he continued. Moments later, the pair again stopped as Zane told his father they had "already finished the hike multiple times over." "It was completely bizarre," Mr Wach recalled. "He told me he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, 'This is not real.' Like he was in the movie 'Inception' or something," he said. The 14-year-old's deteriorating state of mind then prompted a separate group of hikers nearby to call for a search and rescue team to get him down the mountain. But around the same time, things went from bad to worse. "He almost seemed like he was sleepwalking. He started dragging his feet and stopped in his tracks. He didn't want to go on," the father said. According to Mr Wach, his son started making erratic movements toward a ledge near the trail with a steep, jagged slope, but he grabbed him before he could go over. Later, he again tried to move toward the slope but was stopped by his father. At this moment, the father felt overwhelmed and became emotional. "I had to wipe away tears. I was holding my hands to my eyes, and he walked off again," the father recalled. "This time, I didn't hear it until he was about at the edge, and when I went to reach for him, he was 10 feet away from me. I couldn't get him, and he walked off the edge," he said. The 14-year-old fell an estimated 120 feet down the slope before hitting the ground. It took around six hours for the rescue teams to get Zane off the mountain. He was eventually airlifted to the hospital. Given the extent of the fall, doctors said it was "fairly miraculous" that the teen wasn't injured further, his father said. Zane is "improving" and briefly opened his eyes on Wednesday, but "still has a long way to go," he added.
New York Post
27-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Haunting words 14-year-old son said as he hallucinated, walked off 120-foot cliff in front of terrified father
A California teen who is in a medically induced coma described seeing 'snowmen and Kermit the Frog' before he walked off a 120-foot slope right in front of his terrified father while hallucinating due to altitude sickness. Ryan Wach said he and his 14-year-old son Zane were hiking Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range on June 10 when the unthinkable happened, according to SFGate. The 14-year-old suffered severe head trauma from the fall and remains in a medically induced coma. Zane also broke an ankle, a finger, and part of his pelvis. Advertisement 4 Zane Wach was placed in a medically induced coma after walking off a cliff while suffering from altitude sickness. GoFundMe The frightening events unfolded as the pair made their way down the mountain, but the father initially had no doubts about his son's ability to handle the hike. 'He's in better shape than I am,' Wach told the outlet, adding his son had prior hiking experience and status as an active teen who competes in distance running, swimming, and triathlons. Advertisement 'The idea was that this would be kind of like his introduction to mountaineering.' However, as the father and son were on the journey up the mountain, Zane slowly started exhibiting symptoms of altitude sickness, his father said. Wach noticed his son was having issues, but they had already finished the toughest parts of the hike. He decided to take an easier trail to ensure a safer seven-mile descent back to their car. 4 The 14-year-old suffered severe head trauma from the fall and remains in a medically induced coma. Zane also broke an ankle, a finger, and part of his pelvis. GoFundMe Advertisement But as they were heading towards the trailhead, Wach said Zane started to 'experience some hallucinations.' 'He knew he was hallucinating,' Wach said. 'He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.' Wach said he was keeping a close eye on his son as they made their way down the trail and noticed that he looked 'considerably better.' About an hour later, however, Zane again started acting strangely and began doubting 'reality.' Advertisement 'My best guess is a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, probably some dehydration, and lasting effects from the altitude sickness. But he essentially started to doubt reality.' As they continued their trip down the trail, Wach said they had to stop after Zane told his father they had 'already finished the hike multiple times over.' 'It was completely bizarre,' Wach recalled. 'He told me he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, 'This is not real.' Like he was in the movie 'Inception' or something.' Zane's deteriorating state of mind prompted a separate group of hikers nearby to call for a search and rescue team to get him down the mountain. 4 Zane's father, Ryan, said his son started acting strangely and began doubting 'reality.' GoFundMe However, around that same time, things went from bad to worse with Zane's behavior, his father said. 'He was worse than before,' Wach told the Independent. 'He almost seemed like he was sleepwalking. He started dragging his feet and stopped in his tracks,' Ryan said. 'He didn't want to go on.' Advertisement Wach said his son started making erratic movements toward a ledge near the trail with a steep, jagged slope, but he grabbed him before he could go over. The 14-year-old told his father that he was going to the car — despite it being several thousand feet below their current location on the mountain. Later, he tried again to move toward the slope but was stopped by Wach, with Zane now telling him that he was trying to get 'dinner.' Wach felt overwhelmed trying to keep Zane safe and became emotional, tearing up and briefly letting him go. Advertisement 'I had to wipe away tears. I was holding my hands to my eyes, and he walked off again,' Wach told SFGate. 'This time, I didn't hear it until he was about at the edge, and when I went to reach for him, he was 10 feet away from me. I couldn't get him, and he walked off the edge.' Zane fell an estimated 120 feet down the slope before hitting the ground. 4 Zane's deteriorating state of mind prompted a separate group of hikers nearby to call for a search and rescue team to get him down the mountain. GoFundMe Advertisement Wach said he bolted down the slope to get to his son when a nearby hiker, who happened to be an EMT, noticed what happened and started helping with the rescue efforts. Zane was left on the slope for about six hours as the Inyo County Search & Rescue teams worked to get him off the mountain. He was then airlifted to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine, and later flown to the nearest pediatric trauma center, Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas. However, given the extent of the fall, doctors at Sunrise Children's Hospital said it is 'fairly miraculous' that he wasn't injured further, his father told the outlet. Advertisement In a GoFundMe set up to help with Zane's medical bills, Wach said his son is 'improving' and briefly opened his eyes on Wednesday, but 'still has a long way to go.' Hallucinations are a serious sign of altitude sickness, specifically high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), where the brain swells due to a lack of oxygen, according to the Cleveland Clinic. HACE affects fewer than 1% of people who reach an altitude of 13,000 to 18,000 feet above sea level.
