A man who plummeted approximately 100 feet down a cliff in
the Palos Verdes Estates area, suffered a badly broken ankle in the fall and
wasn't discovered for about 36 hours.
The man, who not only survived the fall but also a chilly
night of rain, had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital with non-life
threatening injuries.
"He was in actually very stable condition," said Tom Perez,
a firefighter paramedic with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "He
was happy to get out of there. He was done with his experience on the
shore."
Perez was the first medical professional to get to and treat
the man who was described by officials only as someone in their 40's or 50's.
Officials said hikers had found the man at the bottom of a
cliff near the 1500 block of Paseo Del Mar in the Palos Verdes Estates area.
The hikers called 9-1-1 just after 2 o'clock Wednesday
afternoon.
"When I got there I realized this guy has neck and back pain
and he's been here for 2 days," Perez said.
As of Wednesday night, officials could not confirm whether
the man had jumped down the cliff or if he had simply slipped and fell.
The man was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and is said
to be in stable condition.
