A photographer trying to get an angle on a shot survived an incredible fall at Red Bluff Sunday.
Carmen Reid, 31, of Ellisville tumbled an estimated 175 feet around 6 p.m., according to Morgantown Volunteer Fire Chief Krae Morgan. She was able to walk away but was later diagnosed with a broken vertebra at a hospital.
“She was taking photos, senior portraits, or couples or something and she was taking them at the second bluff,” Morgan said. “She went to walk around to the other bluff and was backing up taking pictures when she fell.”
Red Bluff, a natural rock formation near the Pearl River north of Morgantown, is considered Mississippi’s “grand canyon” and is a popular hiking and tourist destination.
Reid shared her story on Facebook Monday, saying she “cut four or five flips” before stopping.
“I was shaken up but remember everything and never blacked out,” she wrote. “As I laid there thinking the worst, I began to feel everything and was able to move.”
Reid said she was able to sit up and at that point the first people arrived to check her, including her husband, Jared. They were amazed she was able to move everything and walked out to go to the hospital. After X-Rays and CT scans, Reid was sent home after being treated for a fractured vertebra.
“I am home with a fractured vertebra, the one closest to my skull, and a neck brace for a month,” she wrote. “But, I am alive and walking. Praise God!! I truly believe He is the only reason I am able to be typing this message this morning.”
Morgan estimated that Reid may have fallen close to 175 feet.
“Luckily, the area she landed in was sandy and soft and her fall was angled as she rolled down,” he said. “I was the first first responder on the scene. She was sitting up and talking to two people when I arrived. It was amazing – she was able to walk out under her own power. AAA Ambulance Service checked her out and took her to the hospital.”
Morgan said firefighters from several jurisdictions arrived to assist.
