Local

Teen recovering after fall from Burke Co. waterfall

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A Kings Mountain teen was injured in a fall from a waterfall in Burke County earlier this week.

Seventeen-year-old Patrick Mereno was rescued after falling 60 feet near High Shoals Waterfall in South Mountain State Park around 6 p.m. Tuesday. It took rescue workers about two hours to get to him.

Park Superintendent Jonathan Griffith says Mereno was flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte for treatment of serious injuries.

Park rangers say rocks near the waterfall can become very slippery. The trails along the waterfall are marked and the top of the waterfall itself is blocked off.