He thought he was seeing snowmen and even Kermit the Frog as he descended Mt. Whitney after reaching the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. Altitude sickness a 14-year-old Santa Clarita student suffered caused him to fall more than 100 feet and put him in a coma.
Now, Zane Wach is home after surviving the horrific fall and is recovering slowly, but surely.
“Nope,” Wach says when asked if he remembers his day on the mountain. A day he can’t recall led to him relearning the basics, such as regaining his motor skills.
Back in June, the teen joined his father, Ryan Wach, on an adventurous trek to Mt. Whitney. All went well and the two reached the summit without issue. During the descent, however, Zane began to feel ill.
During the duo’s 19th hour on the mountain, Zane suffered altitude sickness.
“He said, ‘You know, dad, I’m hallucinating you see all those little snow things, spots down there, snow fields? They look like snowmen. Or the green lakes over there? It kind of looks like Kermit the Frog and his friends,” said Ryan, who was uncertain about what to do next as his son was hallucinating.
As Zane’s condition worsened, he suddenly walked to the edge of the mountain.
“He just walked over the edge like he was walking to the car and I just screamed,” the boy’s father said. “I was certain he had died. I didn’t know how he could survive that.”
The teenager survived a 120-foot fall onto solid granite.
According to Ryan, the two waited about six hours on the mountain for search and rescue teams to locate them. A medical helicopter airlifted the boy to the closest pediatric trauma center, which was in Las Vegas. That’s where Zane was taken care of while he was in a coma.
Thankfully, Zane awoke from his coma and grew well enough to return home. His welcome included warm embraces from loved ones and encouraging posters from his friends and community.
His family said that the Hart High School student won’t be returning to school this year as he continues with therapy. Zane added that he was thankful to his therapist for the strides he’s made so far.
Despite the road to recovery he faces, Zane said he remains determined to continue living on not let his experience put a damper on his adventures.
“Definitely,” is what the teen had to say when asked if he plans on returning to the mountain in the future.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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