A 28-year-old man from Walla Walla was rescued and flown to a local hospital on Tuesday after he was knocked unconscious by a football-sized rock at Palouse Falls State Park in Eastern Washington.
The man and his wife went on a hike at Palouse Falls on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Facebook post from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. When they neared the bottom of the falls, a rock described as being the size of a football dislodged from above the man and struck him on the head. He was unconscious after he was struck, the sheriff's office said. Weather conditions prevented Life Flight from getting a helicopter down to the hiker's location, so the victim was "hoisted out by pure muscle" supplied by Columbia Basin Dive and Rescue, Pasco Fire, Franklin County Fire, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and others, according to the Facebook post. Other hikers also helped the man.