Rescue caught on camera after Arizona motorist falls 200 feet off cliff

MESA, Arizona – A man is recovering from serious injuries after his car plunged 200 feet off a cliff off State Route 88 early Sunday morning in the east Mesa.

The daring rescue was caught on camera in its entirety.

Not only did the man fall off the cliff, but he hit an abandoned car on impact. There are about ten cars crushed at the foot of a place some call the “graveyard.”

Fortunately, the man will live to tell his story.

“I wanted to make sure he was still alert, that he could answer my questions and make sure he knew no one had left him. We were all still there and we were coming,” said Jessica Heavin, a paramedic with American Medical Response (AMR).

It happened around 00:30 on July 7, on the notoriously dangerous national road 88, at kilometer 218.

It appears that a man attempting to drive through the bend misjudged the curvature of the curve and drove off the side of the road.

He fell from a height of 200 feet down the steep embankment.

“Well, instantly it’s a terrible fall, and we’re wondering if the person in the vehicle is still alive. The patient was responding to our calls, so from that point on we know we have to pick up the pace and get people up there as quickly as possible,” said Barbara Foord, an AMR paramedic.

Arizona DPS and AMR crews immediately called for backup, relying on Mesa Fire, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, an air evacuation helicopter, and a Superstition Fire and Medical Technical Rescue Team (TRT) to help set up the ladder, push rescuers back into the ravine, treat the patient, and immediately transport him to the hospital.

“Our TRT technicians are great. They’re trained to stay calm and collected in situations like this,” said Sophie Boukatch, a paramedic with Superstition Fire & Medical. “It’s obviously a little nerve-wracking going down a dark cliff.”

The driver was seriously injured and in pain, but was conscious.

It took hours, but eventually crews secured him and evacuated him by helicopter.

“They’ve done an incredible job on this. Our teams do this every day,” said Jennifer Veri of AMR Central Arizona.

The ravine off State Route 88 is near Apache Lake and has no guardrails.

Although signs say you should drive at 15 mph, it is recommended to go even slower. Crews say rescues like this happen all the time.

Fortunately for this driver, not only did he survive his injuries, but the accident happened under the cover of night, not in extreme heat.