Adventure Photographer Nearly Dies After Falling 200 Feet From a Cliff in Portugal
An adventure photographer who travels the world capturing gorgeous imagery has had a serious accident while hiking in Portugal.
36-year-old Kyle Quin Schrock from San Diego, California, operates the popular Instagram page @everchanginghorizon and posted a video from his hospital bed in Madeira to explain what has happened.
“Brief intermission from beautiful photos to show where I’m at right now,” Schrock says, visibly pained. “I fell from a cliff in Madeira about a week ago. I fell about 60 meters. I thought it was my death, but eventually got caught on a piece of grass, like a little bush. Did not feel strong enough for me to get caught on. I was very surprised.”
According to a GoFundMe set up for Schrock, the ground beneath him gave way, which is what caused the fall.
Schrock says that he heard his friends’ voices above him informing him that a helicopter was on its way to him.
“And that was the best news that I could ever get,” he says. “So I just had to blast it out, figure out how not to fall off that cliff. Because it felt like a really precarious situation. Did not feel like it was strong enough to hold me.”
Fortunately, he held on long enough for the helicopter to take him to hospital. Schrock says he is in an “extreme amount of pain” and has suffered a broken back, broken ribs, broken sternum, and is on “crazy meds.”
“Life has stayed so still since I got here,” he says. “I feel like I’ve been in a weird daze. Really struggling to maintain any normalcy.”
“I am alive; I’m grateful to be alive,” he adds. “Grateful to have friends. They called the life flight for me. They did an awesome job.”
Schrock’s GoFundMe page says that he has a “long road to recovery” and will need assistance with “travel, rehabilitation, and further medical needs” in the United States. The intrepid photographer says he will get back out there and “enjoy life again.”
Schrock told the Daily Mail that he was formerly an accountant who initially planned a six-month road trip but fell in love with the traveling lifestyle.
“Eventually, all the daydreaming convinced me that if I never got out and traveled I would regret it,” he said. “Through photography and social media, I was able to gain a following and eventually attract some brands who wanted to work with me.”
Image creditsVia GoFundMe
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