A man who fell dozens of feet and was seriously injured while climbing at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area said Monday he is at home resting and has begun physical therapy.
Jarred Jackman, a climbing enthusiast who spends his time between Las Vegas and Washington state, said he checked out of the hospital on Saturday after suffering three fractured vertebrae, severe bruising to his abdomen and left leg, and is still mostly unable to move his left hand after falling an estimated 40 to 5o feet on Feb. 28.
“I’m unbelievably lucky that it’s not worse,” Jackman said, noting the fall has left him in a halo brace, a metal frame affixed to a vest in order to stabilize the head, neck and spine.
While he doesn’t remember much about the fall, Jackman said it occurred while climbing the “Dream Safari” route at the Dark Shadows wall at Red Rock’s Pine Creek. What Jackman does remember, he said, is that his foot slipped at some point.
Almost immediately after slipping, Jackman’s climbing rope must have come unclipped from the carabiner. It’s still not totally clear how the rope became unclipped, but Jackman said he’s thankful he wasn’t more seriously hurt.
Although he is slowly regaining his mobility, he must also often rest while sitting as upright as possible. That can make sleeping a challenge, he said.
“The night is my worst time because it’s when I’m most uncomfortable,” Jackman said. “I have this halo on. These four screws that are holding it to my head. They don’t penetrate my skull, but they’re a constant pressure you can’t forget.”
Since Jackman’s release, a close friend who who specializes in physical therapy has volunteered to stay with him and his wife and aid in his recovery, he said.
“My friend who flew down here and is my acting PA right now in my home, he made me pancakes yesterday,” Jackman said. “Then we went out in my backyard and did physical therapy, then he helped my wife cut my hair and helped me shave, since he’s more well-versed at shaving men’s faces than she is, and I have all these bars around my face.”
Jackman said the halo brace could be removed in as soon as three months, though it will likely take much longer than that to make a full recovery.
Metro search team ‘unbelievably’ professional
Getting hurt is nothing new for him.
Jackman said he was in a road bike crash a few years back that left him with “head to toe” road rash and, until recently, was his worst injury to date. He said he’s even broken a vertebrae before.
But all of his prior injuries do not compare to his current reality, he said.
“I’ve broken both ankles, broken both wrists, cracked ribs, broken a scapula, which is kind of hard to do,” Jackman said. “Recovering is not new to me, but I will say this recovery is 100 percent new because wearing a halo (brace) is different.”
He also detailed his retrieval by the Metropolitan Police Department’s search and rescue team. Metro said last week that the effort took roughly seven hours to complete.
Jackman commended the team for getting him to safety as quickly as they could.
According to Metro, the climber since identified as Jackman was still about 600 feet above ground when the rescue crew made first contact. Rescuers secured the climber to a titanium litter and constructed a lowering system to help take the climber to a Bureau of Land Management helipad, before he was flown to a hospital.
“They were very calm,” Jackman said. “They’re unbelievably professional, and very well-organized.”
‘It all just hit me’
As of Monday, a GoFundMe online fundraiser started by Jackman’s sister to help pay for medical expenses had raised more than $14,000. Jackman said he would like to donate any leftover proceeds to Metro’s search and rescue team.
Jackman said he initially felt too prideful to accept funds from his sister’s crowd sourcing effort but changed his tune after considering that it allowed friends and loved ones across the U.S. a chance to help a friend in need.
Although Jackman said he is not an overtly emotional person, it’s been moving to see the outpouring of messages and support since the accident.
“I wasn’t crying on the cliff,” Jackman said. “I wasn’t crying from the pain. I wasn’t crying from anything the doctors were doing. But the human interaction of them taking time out of their lives and showing how much they care, whether it be a phone call, a text, in-person, people donating money, any of those things — it all just hit me.”
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on X, @Casey_Harrison1.
