It was just going to be a hike near Ka’au Crater in Oahu, Hawaii; but for an Ohio University student studying in the state, it ended with an unexpected plunge from a cliff that could’ve ended her life.
Equipped with a backpack that held snacks and towels, Marissa Peone, a junior studying marine biology, and her friend Bec Jackson, a junior studying chemistry and biology at Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia, headed for Ka’au Crater on Oct. 12.
It was supposed to be a day of adventure.
“I thought we were prepared,” Peone said. “We didn’t know what to expect.”
But the hiking trip was more difficult than anticipated. The Ka’au trail was narrow, and turning back on the route was treacherous, so both women proceeded forward. Peone and Jackson used an old rope to scale rocks and climb to the top of a waterfall.
After climbing to the top, Peone, a Seneca Falls, N.Y., native, attempted to walk, but she slipped on a rock and tumbled 60 feet down the falls.
“I was eventually falling through the air and thought, ‘I’m dead and I’m not waking up,’ ” Peone said. “After the first initial flip, I blacked out.”
It was that flip that saved her life. The backpack Peone was wearing acted as an airbag of sorts and cushioned her head and neck from the impact on the rocks in the four-foot deep pool at the base of the falls.
Even though Peone was physically still able to move, Jackson, who witnessed the fall, assumed the worst. Jackson called 911 while climbing down to the bottom, and she was greeted with the sight of Peone pulling herself out of the water. The only concerns left were potential internal injuries.
“I thought Marissa was gone when I saw her slip; it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” Jackson said in an email. “(I) was so relieved when I saw her walking herself out of the pool with no physical injuries. ... She is honestly a miracle.”
Peone said emergency personnel life-lifted her to a hospital where extensive X-rays and CT scans were done, yet the only injury she sustained was a bruise.
She plans to finish out the semester in Hawaii and will return to Athens for Spring Semester.
“Certainly a backpack can make a huge difference,” said Tim Hogan, OU Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine associate professor of family medicine. “Falling from 60 feet? You are certainly lucky.”
@HannahMYang
hy195010@ohiou.edu
