According to Park City Fire District spokesman Mike Owens, the young boy fell off the chairlift, just before the netting that prevents skiers from dropping onto Park Avenue as the chairlift crosses the street. Owens said the boy fell from about 15 feet and suffered a small laceration on his chin.
He said the boy and his father rode the lift for about 20 feet before the fall occurred. Owens said the child was transported to Primary Children’s Hospital with "minor injuries.”
A witness to the accident posted online that he saw the child fall onto Town Lift plaza just seconds after getting on the lift with his father. The father reportedly was unable to get the safety bar down before the child fell off.
In his post on Reddit the witness said that his wife called 911. He also wrote that he tried to catch the boy but couldn’t make it in time. He estimated it was a 25-foot drop, and said he saw the boy make a “belly flop on the hard deck.”
He wrote he stabilized the young boy’s head and waited for emergency assistance. The witness added that the father was too far up the chairlift to get off. He said the child’s mother and sister, who were riding behind them, were able to get off the chairlift to help comfort the boy.
Park City Mountain spokesperson Emily McDonald told KPCW the resort doesn’t release personal medical information and had nothing to add.
