PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles boy who survived a harrowing fall down a steep ravine earlier this week told the first person to reach him that he “knew this day would come.”
David Jangula, a good Samaritan who came to the boy’s aid Monday before medics arrived, said the boy, identified only as Justice, earlier had dreamed about falling off the bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca — where he and his buddy were playing when a soggy ledge gave way at about 6 p.m.
Justice, 9, was taken to Olympic Medical Center with unknown head injuries and neck pain after he fell between 50 and 60 feet down a cliff near Fourth and N streets in northwest Port Angeles, Port Angeles firefighters said.
Authorities said they did not know the boy’s last name and typically don’t release the names of minors.
Olympic Medical Center spokeswoman Bobby Beeman said the hospital cannot release any information, nor confirm or deny whether a patient is at OMC if the patient is a minor.
Jangula was driving home with his wife, Holly, when they noticed one child standing near two bicycles.
The Port Angeles couple could hear Justice hollering from the bottom of the ravine.
Rather than try to rappel down the steep, unstable embankment, David Jangula found a side route to reach the scene.
Holly Jangula said he slid some 60 feet down to get to the boy.
He helped the boy out of a creek and put a jacket around him, used his shirt to stop the bleeding on the boy’s face and kept him talking.
“He wanted a mirror so he could take a look at his face,” said David Jangula, head mechanic for Rygaard Logging of Port Angeles.
“He was complaining that he was having a hard time catching his breath.
“He knew where he was and how he had gotten there. He was worried about getting a hold of his grandmother and his parents.”
David Jangula said the boy fell about 45 feet, landing on a steep embankment on the opposite side of a narrow ravine.
David Jangula said the boy then tried to climb back up the hill but slipped back to the bottom of the slope.
According to David Jangula, the boy landed on his feet and smashed his chin on his knees.
The boy told David Jangula that he and his friends like to ride their bikes in the gully.
“He said he knew this day would come, that he would fall down the ravine,” David Jangula said.
Holly Jangula said Justice and his friend were planning to run a remote-controlled boat down the creek before the ground gave way under Justice.
The Jangulas gave the friend a ride home after medics stabilized Justice.
David Jangula said it took between seven and 12 minutes for rescue crews to arrive.
“It seemed like forever, though,” he said.
The Port Angeles Fire Department extended a rescue ladder over the top of the ravine to locate the boy.
“We sent units to the top and bottom,” Assistant Fire Chief Ken Dubuc said.
Medics lowered a rescue basket from the top, but crews didn’t need to use it.
Instead, they were able to get the boy to a Nippon Paper Industries USA mill access road.
“He was conscious and alert,” Dubuc said.
“It could have been a lot worse.”
Port Angeles Fire Lt. Mike Sanders said six response units, two chief officers and 25 personnel responded to the incident.
Of those, eight or nine attended to the boy in an 8-foot-wide area at the bottom of the ravine, Dubuc said.
Among the first emergency responders was Port Angeles Police Officer Andrew Neisinger, who received a report of two kids playing on bikes in the area at 5:40 p.m.
When Neisinger realized someone had fallen into the ravine, he grabbed a rope and a backboard from the trunk of his patrol car.
“He scrambled himself down there,” Port Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said.
Smith said crews took standard safety precautions in getting the boy to safety.
Dubuc offered a takeaway safety message:
“People need to be careful on the edge of the bluff,” he said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
