Mountain climbing is a dangerous but statistically safe sport. Only about 3.3 people per 100,000 participants actually lost their lives from accidents or injuries suffered during the effort. However, one can imagine the severity of injuries that athletes might suffer if they were to have an accident while climbing a mountain. Take Kevin Junge, for example.

Junge is an athlete. But he is not what you would picture when you think of one. He doesn’t need to catch a ball or throw one. His choice of poison are climbing and boating. But what happened to him when he went kayaking near the Ocoee at Gee Creek Bluff puts every adventure sports athlete on notice. He fell about 90 ft off a mountain and broke his leg, arm, and pelvis. But how? And how is he still alive?

What happened to Kevin Junge?

Junge, along with his friends, wanted to climb the mountain at Gee Creek. The creek attracts lots of tourists every year as it’s a beautiful place, much of it untouched by industrialization. The only people they attract more are mountain climbers and kayakers, people who live their lives one adventure at a time. Mountain climbing is relatively safe if you are experienced, but sometimes, things don’t go the way people had planned. Junge definitely hadn’t planned for this.

The main climbing is reportedly on a big ledge, allowing one to maneuver easily, but once they are past the edge, they would find themselves facing a drop of at least 50-60 ft. Meanwhile, Junge’s friends were moving the gear from the bottom of their base to the place where Junge had been working with ropes to set up the climb. Everything seemed normal. They had done this before. This was nothing new. Well, all that was about to change.

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Suddenly, one of Junge’s friends heard him screaming. Before he could understand what was happening or react to it, he saw the rope swishing past the anchor and Junge with it. He is said to have hit a few things and then some trees on the way to the ground. Reports claim that the fall was around 90 ft. That could mean only one thing, right?

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At this point, Junge’s friends believed him to be dead from the impact. The hills are said to be steep and filled with large boulders. So, it took some time for them to find a spot to climb down and find Junge. Upon reaching the ground, they found Junge. Alive!

Where is Kevin Junge now?

Junge had miraculously managed not to get hit in the head and was still responsive. He was holding up his broken leg, and two sticks were sticking out of his calf. His arm was also broken, and his back and pelvic areas were causing him a lot of pain. The first ranger showed up for the rescue with some kids. But it turned out that this wasn’t actually the rescue.

The real rescue arrived 45 minutes later, according to Junge’s friends. But they couldn’t airlift him due to the high winds. So, they had to cut some trees down to make a trail down the mountain. Once they got near the bottom, the winds got a bit better and they were able to airlift him. It took about 50 people and 5 excruciating hours to get him out.