14-Year-Old Who Survived Walking Off 120-Foot Cliff Returns Home After 2 Months in the Hospital

After more than two months of recovery, 14-year-old Zane Wach is back home following a terrifying fall from a cliff on Mount Whitney in California.

On June 10, Zane was climbing the mountain with his father, Ryan, when he began hallucinating and accidentally walked off a 120-foot cliff. Doctors later suggested the teen was suffering from altitude sickness. His father said Zane reported seeing “snowmen” and even “Kermit the Frog” shortly before the fall.

The accident left Zane with multiple injuries, including head trauma, a broken ankle, a broken finger, and a partially fractured pelvis. Rescuers needed six hours to reach him, and he was placed in a medically induced coma soon after.

According to KNBC, Zane began breathing on his own about two weeks later. He spent several weeks hospitalized, first in Las Vegas — the closest trauma center to Mount Whitney — before being transferred to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in July.

In a GoFundMe update, Zane’s family shared that he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and eat, calling his progress “slow but steady” and saying “every small gain feels like a miracle.”

On August 15, the teen was released from the hospital and returned to his hometown of Valencia. Friends, family, and neighbors gathered to celebrate his homecoming, with KNBC capturing moments of Zane walking down the street alongside his parents.

Zane admitted that standing “hurts a little bit,” but added that overall, he feels “good” as he continues physical therapy. He also thanked his therapist for guiding him through his recovery.

When asked if he remembers the fall, Zane simply said, “no.” But despite the life-threatening ordeal, he remains determined to one day return to the mountain.

His mother, Leann Wach, told KNBC, “If we got scared and started living our lives based off of one thing that went wrong, it wouldn’t be much of a life. We can’t live that way.”