Featured Image Credit: Rebecca Fielding/FOX 13 News Utah
A teenager has fallen to his death after attempting to move into a better position while taking photos on a cliff’s edge.
19-year-old Jonathan Fielding, from Missouri, died in an unfortunate accident on January 27.
His family have said they have taken comfort knowing that Jonathan died doing what he loved, which was taking photographs in the Utah wilderness.
Jonathan, an avid photographer, was with hiking with friends near Moonscape Overlook when he stopped to take some pictures.
After losing his footing, he fell into the canyon, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
“He found an enormous group of friends and a group of support,” family friend Connor Parry told the New York Post.
“He was a special kid, and it’s important to keep that energy and that smile he brought to every conversation.”
Jonathan’s family have released his obituary and continued to praise the young man for his character.
“Jonathan was a fun-loving, intelligent young man that had developed some unique talents. He had big dreams and hopes focused on sales. More important than his dreams and future plans, however, Jonathan was a good person,” the obituary read.
“Jonathan truly cared about others. He would genuinely listen to you. He was truly a friend in every sense of the word. He had many friends and was an influence for good. He was always kind to others. He would often notice those that needed help and offered them assistance and encouragement.”
His family has also said they hope to bring attention to the importance of hiking safety.
Jonathan’s sister, Rebecca Fielding, told ABC 4 that her brother died instantly after falling around 300 feet.
Officials have ruled Jonathan’s death as accidental and emphasized that the group was not canyoneering at the time of the incident.
She also said she went to the location where her brother had died and noted the cliffs were deceiving because they were not as sturdy as they appeared.
“The biggest thing that can be done to support my family is to spread awareness about hiking safety. So many people take risks, so many people just want that perfect shot, that perfect view, but it is not worth anyone’s life,” Rebecca added.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize just how dangerous those areas are, it is just so easy to just slip and fall.”
The family have also set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral costs.
Man dies after falling off cliff while filming TikTok video
Featured Image Credit: United States Coast Guard News/ wapa.tv
A man from Indiana fell to his death whilst filming a video for social media.
Edgar Garay, fell off a cliff in Puerto Rico as he was filming a TikTok, with the cliff having a staggering 70-feet drop.
The 27-year-old had been out with family on a ‘recreational day trip’.
Garay was near the coastal cliff near the lighthouse in Cabo Rojo last Sunday (29 January).
And, according to The United States Coast Guard News, this was where he was last seen alive at 5:37 pm.
Dubbed by his brother Carlos Garay as a ‘daredevil’, the 27-year-old reportedly lost his footing while filming content for a TikTok and tragically plummeted off the cliff to his death.
“My brother has a TikTok account that he loved to upload videos to,” Carlos told WTHR.
“Unfortunately, that was what he was trying to do when he was closer to the edge than he should have been.”
The United States Coast Guard News has since released a statement about Garay’s death.
They said a local emergency dive unit had ‘located and recovered’ Garay’s body on Monday afternoon ( 3 February).
According to the statement, a witness said she saw Garay ‘stumble towards the edge of the cliff’.
Expressing ‘heartfelt condolences’ for Garay’s family, Coast Guard Sector San Juan commander, Captain José E. Díaz said: “We express our most heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Edgar Garay and pray they find closure and strength during this most difficult time.”
Garay’s brother has since set up a GoFundMe page to raise the money needed to bring Garay’s body back to Indiana from Puerto Rico.
Currently, the GoFundMe has reached $5,940 of its $8,500 goal.
The description reads: “Our family is now on a mission to bring our loveable sibling home so that he can be laid to rest among friends and family.”
Needing help to cover the cost of the transportation, Carlos added that he wanted loved ones to be able to ‘say their goodbyes’ in a ‘proper manner’.
He called Garay’s death ‘the worst accident imaginable’ which led to his life being taken from him ‘so young’.
Topics: News, US News, TikTok
Teen jailed after pushing her friend off 60-foot bridge into water below
Featured Image Credit: ABC News/X @PicturesFoIder
A teenager pleaded guilty and received jail time after pushing her friend off a 60ft bridge and leaving her with ‘severe injuries.’
Taylor Smith, who was 19 at the time, pleaded guilty back in 2019 to pushing her younger friend off the bridge after being charged with ‘reckless endangerment.’
Smith was filmed shoving Jordan Holgerson, 17, on August 7 2019, with the 10-second clip going viral on social media.
It’s not clear what caused the teen to push her friend off the 60ft edge, although the victim’s mother, Genelle Holgerson, said in court she believes Taylor acted intentionally due to the severity of her daughter’s injuries.
“After Taylor pushed her, she did not rush down to see if Jordan was OK, she left the scene.
“She did not show up at the hospital to check on Jordan. She did not stop by our home to see if she was OK or in any other way act like a friend.”
The victim was asked in court to share her statement, but was so emotional she had to have a victim’s advocate read her statement on her behalf.
She said: “This nightmare started for me when I was falling through the air, and I was really terrified.
“When I was being pulled from the water, I thought, ‘I’m going to die,’ because I couldn’t breathe. And I was watching my body change color by the second.”
Holgerson was left with severe injuries including six broken ribs and punctured lungs, which Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman took into consideration with Smith’s sentencing.
Zimmerman told the girl in court: “I think you need to do some jail time.”
She was sentenced to two days in county jail, along with a $300 fine after pleading guilty.
Before being escorted from the court while handcuffed, Smith was given a chance to have her say in the courtroom.
She directed her statement to her friend, saying: “I’d like to sincerely apologize to Jordan Holgerson, her family and friends for the pain and humiliation I have caused by my mindless actions that occurred last summer.
“Although it may have seemed like my intent was to harm and like I may have moved on without putting any punishment on myself, this is false. Jordan has passed through my thoughts repetitively since the incident.”
Man who pretended to leap canyon barrier loses footing and almost falls over the edge
Featured Image Credit: Reddit / @Evaraw666
We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘pushing your luck’.
One prankster learnt this the hard way after he pretended to jump over the safety railing at Bryce Canyon – only to nearly plummet.
Footage shows the unidentified man running up to the railing and jumping on top, landing on his feet.
However, his stunt doesn’t go to plan and he loses balance, falling over to the other side.
Fortunately for the wannabe daredevil, there is a ledge just beneath him so he only falls a few inches before coming to a stop.
The woman recording the footage screams and rushes to check that he’s okay.
According to the Mail Online, this incident took place at the Utah based national park in 2022.
Since being shared online, many people have slammed the man for his reckless behaviour.
One critic wrote: “I always wondered as a kid how people fall into canyons like this, I never would have guessed this was why.”
Another sarcastically remarked: “I blame the park services. They should have put something there to prevent people from accidentally falling off that giant cliff.”
A third added: “Hmmm I wonder why that fence was there”, and a fourth similarly commented: “I think maybe that guard rail is there for a reason.”
Bryce Canyon National Park spokesperson, Peter Densmore, said he was ‘incredibly thankful’ that no other injuries occurred.
Densmore said: “Considering that this occurred at one of the park’s most popular viewpoints and dislodged rocks onto the heavily trafficked Navajo Loop below, we are extremely thankful that no serious injuries occurred.”
By comparison, the Grand Canyon – three hours away from the Bryce Park – is much deeper and more dangerous to fall into.
At least 56 people have been reported missing there since 2018.
Ken Phillips, a former search and rescue agent with the National Park Service, spent 27 years conducting searches and rescues within the Arizona based national park.
Phillips asserts that there are likely more deaths at the park than the records show.
He explained: “On average, there are 12 fatalities within the canyon every year.
“Those can be from everything relating to heat stroke, lightning, drownings on the river, air crashes, suicides, accidental falls – all types of things.”
Several people have died at the Grand Canyon in recent weeks.
In early June, a 33-year-old man fell over 4,000 feet to his death into the Colorado River below.
The investigation is still ongoing, but the sheriff’s office shared a number for National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
One month prior, a 36-year-old hiker lost her life when she attempted to hike from the Grand Canyon rim to the Colorado River and back within a single day.
Park Services discourage attempting this route in one day as it puts hikers at risk of heat exhaustion and death.
Tourist dies after falling 300 feet while climbing ladder bridge at popular Instagram spot
Featured Image Credit: k5hu/Getty Images
A British man has died after falling 300 feet from at a climbing spot popular with Instagrammers.
The 42-year-old man died after plummeting to the ground at a place that is colloquially known as the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ because it spans a huge precipice.
The area, set in the beautiful Austrian mountains, is a hotspot for tourists seeking to get a perfect Instagram picture in the idyllic surroundings, but the actual climb is by no means one for absolute beginners.
The spot features a ladder bridge that goes between two rocky outcrops in the Dachstein mountain range.
The ladder goes 130 feet across, with a 300 foot drop beneath, connecting the Donnerkogel mountain to the Großer – Greater – area of the mountain, which boasts a peak that stands at 6,740 feet tall.
The police are investigating the circumstances that led to the man’s death, but it has not been treated as suspicious and is believed to have been an accident.
Rescue teams were unable to save the man after his fall, and his body was removed from the deep ravine beneath the ladder, which is part of a Via Ferrata, or ‘Iron Path’.
There are popular Via Ferrata in Italy, France, Slovenia, and France, as well as in Austria.
According to MailOnline, a police spokesperson said: “According to the conclusion of the police investigation, it is clearly an accident.”
It is believed that the man was on his own at the time of the fall. His identity has not yet been released.
On the area’s tourist website, the ladder is described as a ‘new TOP attraction on the Zwieselalm for climbing enthusiasts’.
The climb to the ladder takes place across four stages, with the final crossing of the expanse offering climbers ‘the ultimate adrenaline kick’.
The Via Ferrata is a long climb that features metal cables, ladders, pegs, and rungs that climbers are harnessed to in order to keep them safe.
It’s definitely not one for the faint-hearted.
The man’s body was recovered by police officers from two police departments in the area, utilising assistance from two helicopters.
Thousands of adrenaline junkies have shared their photographs from the ‘stairway to heaven’, which is rated as a ‘moderate/difficult climb’ and ‘not idea’ for those without any climbing experience.
In 2020, extreme athlete Stefanie Millinger took a famous photograph whilst balancing on the ‘ladder’ wearing a ballet outfit.
The Dachstein Mountains are just one part of the Northern Limestone Alps, featuring 439 named mountains.