PUHI — A visiting teenager sustained an apparent head injury when she fell from a cliff at Kipu Falls yesterday afternoon and remains in serious condition, according to county officials and eyewitnesses at the scene. The injured girl, a 16-year-old
PUHI — A visiting teenager sustained an apparent head injury when she fell from a cliff at Kipu Falls yesterday afternoon and remains in serious condition, according to county officials and eyewitnesses at the scene.
The injured girl, a 16-year-old from Warminster, Penn., according to county spokeswoman Mary Daubert, reportedly tumbled unintentionally from the right side of the waterfall.
“She slipped and hit the back of her head and landed in the water,” said Matt Schluter, a visitor from Chicago, Ill.
Witnesses said that four people swam over to the girl, who was conscious but bleeding from the back of her head and unable to feel anything below her sternum.
Witnesses said that before long, the girl was able to lift her arm and was beginning to feel pain, which could be considered a good sign if it indicates that the numbness was temporary.
Daubert said that by the time four rescue specialists and four firefighters, all based in the Lihu‘e Fire Department, arrived on the scene, the injured girl was already out of the water after being helped to shore by bystanders.
The KFD stabilized her on a board, and then used a wheeled litter to move her up the trail to a waiting Kapa‘a-based ambulance, then to Wilcox Memorial Hospital and eventually to The Queen’s Medical Center on O‘ahu, Daubert said.
