COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. — A 14-year-old boy was rescued from the Grand Canyon on Tuesday after he fell about 70 feet from a cliff at Bright Angel Point, park officials said.
A rescue team was dispatched to an "over-the-edge" call on the North Rim and discovered a boy who had fallen from a high distance, according to Grand Canyon National Park.
Because a helicopter was not capable of reaching the boy's location, the rescue team used ropes to safely extract him and help transport the teen to a pediatric trauma center for further care.
Park officials said rescue teams undergo intensive training to prepare for the hundreds of calls they respond to each year.
"I can say with great confidence that they put to use advanced medical skills in an austere environment that are rarely executed in most other places," said Meghan Smith, preventive search and rescue supervisor. "It's clear that their training and hard work paid off, leading to a smooth, timely operation that will no doubt lead to better outcomes for this patient."
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What is the Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?:
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.