New Jersey

Injured Teen Hiker Rescued from NJ Waterfall: Police

Police and EMS rescued a teenage hiker who fell down Peanut Leap Falls in New Jersey, a popular attraction along a hiking trail inside Palisades Interstate Park, officials say. 

The 17-year-old boy from Elmwood Park was hiking with friends when he fell shortly after 4 p.m. and got hurt, police said. He was swinging from a tree and landed on a rock, and the rock gave way, causing him to plunge down the waterfall.

He sustained internal injuries and became trapped 70 feet up the waterfall, police said. He was found kneeling on a rock formation, unable to move.  

Police marine units had to bring paramedics and EMS workers in rappel gear to the area because of the remote location and shallow depth. Rappel crews lowered themselves to the boy, secured him, and brought him down.

Chopper 4 followed the rescue as the teen was loaded into a boat waiting in the Hudson River at the base of the cliffside, then transported over water to nearby Alpine Boat Basin Marina, then to Hackensack University Medical Center by ambulance. 

Officials would not offer a condition on the hiker, but he appeared to be conscious and moving during the transport. 

Hikers say the it's about an hour-and-a-half hike to reach Peanut Falls, which is described online as difficult and strenuous. 

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