Teen is taken by ventilator after hallucination and fall from 120 feet cut

A teenager in California, who was placed in a coma after he hallucinated and walked off a cliff during hikingBreathe on his own, according to his family.

On Thursday, June 26, the father of 14-year-old Zane Wach shared an update on the teenager’s health after an event two weeks ago, where Zane began to experience hallucinations because of what doctors believe was altitude sick.

Zane’s father, Ryan Wach, wrote in a Facebook post that was shared on the teenager’s grandmother Lisa Hinrichsen-Wach’s site that Zane had reached his first “giant milestone” since he was placed in a medically induced coma.

“I will be short today because it was a big day but very hard,” Ryan began. “Zane got the respiratory tube away and removed (the ventilator). This was a gigantic milestone and opens the door to many new steps forward. He does not do much else at the moment, the biggest focus is to look close so that he is well breathing on his own and being able to cough and swallow.”

“The hard part is that he is well in feeling the effects of withdrawal,” the father continued. “He has been on many heavy drugs for a while and going off them is extremely hard and painful. As parents it is terrible to look at. We hope he will come through this with the least possible suffering.”

Ryan previously said that he and his 14-year-old son climbed Mount Whitney in Northern California on June 10 when the incident occurred, according to The Independent and Sfgate.

During his 19-hour hike, Ryan said his son began to show signs of altitude sickness, according to NBC Affiliate KSNV. The duo began to go back down the mountain, but things gradually worsened as they continued to fall down.

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Ryan said his son began to feel “much better” about six miles from Trailhead, but his condition worsened about an hour later, and Zane “began to doubt reality.”

A short time later, Ryan said his son thought they had “finished the walk several times”, but they still had not reached the trailhead.

“He began to experience some hallucinations,” Ryan told Sfgate. “He knew he was hallucinating. He said he saw things like snowmen and Kermit The Frog.”

“He told me that he couldn’t say whether he dreamed or not,” recalled the father, “and he would shake his head in distrust, like” this is not true. “As if he were in the movie Start or something. ”

Eventually another group of hikers helped the couple call for help, according to SFGATE and The IndependentBut Zane, who still experiences hallucinations, went off a cliff and fell 120 feet.

“I didn’t see how there would be a way for him to survive it, so I screamed,” Ryan reminded The Independent. He told the outlet that he quickly competed for his son after the fall and found him “still breathing.”

Rescue team arrived about six hours later, and Zane flew to the Södra Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine before being transported to Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas, according to SFGATE.

Zane suffered several injuries from the fall, including the main trauma, a broken ankle, a broken finger and a partially broken pelvis.

“It will be a survival story in the end, but right now we are still in the middle of it,” Ryan said.

The teenager’s family has collected almost $ 30,000 through one Gofundme campaign to support him after the incident.

“We believe in the power of society to lift each other, and we thank you for your prayers and support,” wrote Heather Riggen, who organized the collection online. “Together we’re stronger. Team Zane all the way! We believe in you, buddy; continues to fight.”