Glendale man survives head first fall while on Switzerland hike
GLENDALE, Ariz. - A Glendale man is thankful to be alive after falling off a cliff in Switzerland.
A week ago, 25-year-old Logan Moore fell roughly 50 feet and landed head first.
He was on a backpacking trip with his cousin until the trip was unexpectedly cut short.
"I took a video the second before I fell," he said.
Moore wanted to get the right shot while on a mountain hike in Switzerland, but a wrong step on wet rock and moss caused him to slip and fall over the edge of a cliff.
He plummeted 25 feet and hit a rock wall that knocked him out. The fall wasn't over yet.
"That platform on my back and that momentum sent me into the crevice where I fell another 25 feet head first into the crevice and where I got stuck at the bottom," Moore said.
Luckily, he regained consciousness as he waited for the Switzerland mountain rescue team to save him.
"I accepted what it is and kind of said some goodbyes. At that point, I didn't know if I was going to make it out. Then, once I heard my cousin's voice and my friends overhead, I knew that they weren't going to go anywhere until I was freed," he recalled.
Within 20 minutes, there was a helicopter overhead with help en route.
"Then he was able to put the harness around my legs and over my left shoulder, and they had to bring me up about ten feet and then traverse a little bit, like ten feet because it was so skinny, the crevice was so small," Moore said.
The next step was to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible.
"Attached me to the helicopter, and they landed me on the field where we started the hike and then put me onto the stretcher. I got inside the helicopter, and then we took that helicopter to the hospital," he said.
His mom, Jana, couldn't thank the rescuers enough.
"I am beyond grateful for that rescue team," she said.
Now, he's back home in Glendale recovering from the surgery he had at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale.
"I have a broken left scapula on this side that doesn't require surgery. That'll just heal over time. The main thing that just needed surgery was the whole right shoulder and also the right elbow," he said.
Moore's mom flew overseas to bring her son home.
"He's lucky," she said. "He's probably the luckiest kid on the planet."
Moore says rehab can take anywhere from three to six months. He says he's motivated to recover even quicker because he has nonrefundable tickets to the Olympics.
As Moore focuses on his recovery, a GoFundMe has been set up to help with medical expenses.