Chimney Rock is one of a handful of easily recognizable landmarks across the state of North Carolina and just recently was purchased by the state to preserve that status. This weekend it was the scene of a very tragic accident when a 2 year old toddler slipped his mother’s grasped running along the Skyline Trail stumbling and falling somehow under the safety barrier and off a cliff.
The accident happened around 10:30 Saturday Morning and rescuers repelled down to the boy and initiated CPR. It took rescuers 90 minutes to get the boy off the mountain and despite their efforts the boy could not be saved.
The 2-year-old South Carolina boy who died Saturday from injuries he suffered in a fall while hiking with his family at Chimney Rock Park has been identified as Giovani Chavez, authorities said Sunday.
The boy’s parents are Bibiana and Arturo Chavez of Spartanburg, S.C.
Park staff were notified about 10:30 a.m. that a child had fallen from one of the trails, park Superintendent Adrienne Wallace said. It’s unknown exactly how far he fell, Wallace said. The boy fell from the Skyline trail, said Mary Jaeger-Gale, general manager of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock Park.
Chimney Rock reopened and the investigation into how this accident happened continues.
Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose
