Climber recovering after Linville Gorge fall

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Channel 9 talked to the hiker who fell 40 feet in the Linville Gorge on Monday.
 
Jackson Depew, 23, said he fractured his femur, broke his pelvis in five locations, broke his tailbone and three ribs, and has a collapsed lung.
 
He is recovering at an Asheville hospital Wednesday.
 
Channel 9 asked him about the moment he fell.
 
He said he was grabbing onto a small piece of rock he called a flake.
 
"I was grabbing this flake in order to look around the corner, and as my left hand was grabbing that flake, it blew out, and the rock crumbled off of the wall, and that's when I fell. And after that, I really don't remember anything at all," Depew said.
 
Depew said he woke up to see a climber to the right of him calling emergency crews for help.
 
He said he's grateful to all of the rescuers who got him off the ledge safely.

WSOC