Man sleepwalks off Kentucky cliff, suffers minor injuries

[September 11, 2014]  By Steve Bittenbender
 
 LOUISVILLE Ky. (Reuters) - An Ohio man fell 60 feet off a cliff while sleepwalking in a national forest in Kentucky, but suffered only minor injuries, officials said on Wednesday.

Ryan Campbell, 27, was camping with his friends in the northern part of the Daniel Boone National Forest early last Thursday when he plummeted down a steep incline a few yards into his nighttime stroll.

It took several hours for emergency crews to rescue him.

"He had facial trauma and a head laceration, but his mood was very good. He was responding to our instructions," said John May, with the Wolfe County search-and-rescue unit and one of the first responders to reach Campbell.
 

Campbell fell on a bush, which broke his fall and saved him from potentially more serious or fatal injuries.

Wolfe County's volunteer squad was called in for its experience rescuing hikers and climbers from the forest's steep cliffs. That part of the forest, near Red River Gorge, a recreational area, draws thousands of tourists annually.

May said he had responded to falls where a person fell 160 feet and survived or fell 30 feet and died.

"It really just depends on how you hit and what you hit," he said.

(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender; Editing by David Bailey and Peter Cooney)

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