Father Recalls Nightmarish Moment Son Fell Down 120-Foot Ledge While Hallucinating On Hike

The father of a California teen who remains hospitalized from injuries sustained in a 120-foot fall off a mountain ledge is sharing some harrowing details about his son’s near-fatal experience.

Zane Wach, 14, has been in a medically induced coma since being rescued from California’s Mount Whitney where he and his father, Ryan Wach, had been hiking June 10.

In an interview with SF Gate published last week, Ryan Wach said Zane Wach ― a regular distance runner who competes in triathlons and has had a lot of past hiking experience ― was exhibiting symptoms of altitude sickness and had begun speaking erratically.

“He started to experience some hallucinations,” Ryan Wach recalled, noting that the two were partway through their descent down the mountain. “He knew he was hallucinating. He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.”

Watch a News 3 Las Vegas interview with Ryan Wach below.

He went on to note: “He was in an altered mental state, and I don’t know what caused it. We still don’t know. My best guess is a combination of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, probably some dehydration and lasting effects from the altitude sickness. But he essentially started to doubt reality.”

In a separate interview with NBC affiliate News 3 Las Vegas, Ryan Wach said Zane Wach “believed that we had finished the hike multiple times already in his mind, like he was not present any longer,” adding: “I heard steps to my right, and he was walking off the ledge.”

Immediately after Zane Wach’s fall, Ryan Wach ran to the spot where his son had landed while a nearby hiker began coordinating rescue efforts. It took about six hours in total for rescue teams to arrive, after which Zane Wach was transported to California’s Southern Inyo Hospital and, later, to Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas. Though the teen sustained head trauma, he was spared any major bodily injuries in the fall save for a broken ankle, a broken finger and a partially broken pelvis.

Zane Wach had his ventilators removed and resumed breathing on his own last week. Though the Wach family remains hopeful for a full recovery, Ryan Wach told SF Gate: “It’s going to be a survival story in the end, but right now we’re still in the middle of it.”