Matthew Gidney, the Covenant College freshman who fell approximately 40 feet while climbing at Rainbow Falls on Signal Mountain two weeks ago, has undergone surgery and is on the way to a full recovery.
The 18-year-old and six other students were exploring the area when the incident occurred. Mr. Gidney was climbing along a rock face near the water when the ground gave way and he plummeted feet first.
He sustained multiple injuries including broken heels, a broken knee, extensive bruises, lost teeth, and lacerations in several places. After the fall, the other students responded quickly to check on his condition.
In the immediate aftermath, he had obvious memory loss and was drifting in and out of consciousness, but his vitals were stable. A man nearby called 911 and a long evacuation process was set in motion.
The rescue, which involved three separate crews, took over four hours before Mr. Gidney was airlifted to Erlanger hospital.
As the Covenant College school newspaper reports, one of the students who got to him first, Will Friesen, said, “Logic would say he was dead or in much worse shape from that fall. I didn’t really know what to expect when I got there. It was pretty traumatic.”
Another student, Daniel Hogue, who was with Mr. Gidney throughout the ordeal said, “We didn’t know if he would survive even those first 30 minutes. We thought he could have internal bleeding or brain damage.”
Despite sustaining serious injuries, multiple students and emergency responders said that the Mr. Gidney maintained incredibly high spirits throughout the rescue, even asking others to pray that his parents be given peace about the situation.
Since he fell, Mr. Gidney has received several surgeries to begin repairing his broken heels and knee.
Last week he was moved from Erlanger to a rehabilitation center to continue healing and he will, hopefully, be able to leave and return to school in the next couple of weeks.
Mr. Hogue said, “They are predicting that he will be there for about two weeks until he is stable enough to return back to school. And yes, he is that determined to come back. He is a trooper.”