Woman suffers serious injuries while tumbling down waterfall, NC rescuers say

A woman suffered multiple injuries, including possible broken bones, when she tumbled down one of western North Carolina’s remote waterfalls, according to rescuers.

The incident happened Wednesday in the 512,758-acre Pisgah National Forest, and companions reported the woman slid about 200 feet, officials said.

“Earlier today we were dispatched ... for a subject that had taken an unintended slide down a low-angle waterfall, sustaining multiple injuries,” Linville-Central Rescue Squad reported in an April 15 social media post.

“The patient was stabilized and packaged in the litter, then raised back up the waterfall’s edge and carried to the waiting ambulance.”

Her injuries included possible lower and upper extremity fractures, along with abrasions and contusions to the head, squad officials said.

Pisgah National Forest has more than a dozen well known waterfalls, but the one involved in the incident is not named and not on a designated trail, squad officials said.

The accident site was about a quarter of a mile from the nearest road.

As many as 15 rescuers from multiple agencies joined the rescue operation, including Avery County EMS, Avery County Emergency Management and the Linville Volunteer Fire Department, officials said.

Avery County is about a 115-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.

This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 6:41 AM with the headline "Woman suffers serious injuries while tumbling down waterfall, NC rescuers say."