NEED TO KNOW
- An 18-year-old boy fell more than seven feet off a rock face and a 150-pound piece of boulder landed on his chest at a Washington state beach in late July
- A stranger helped administer aid until first responders arrived
- Days later, the family found him through social media and expressed their thanks
A man is being praised as a real-life “angel” after he helped save an 18-year-old who had fallen more than seven feet off a rock face and was crushed by a piece of boulder at a Washington state beach.
Following the heroic rescue, the teen’s parents searched for the stranger, so they could thank him.
The saga for Kristina and Kurt Borngrebe and their six children began in late July when they visited Kalaloch Beach in Olympic National Park as part of the last leg of their family vacation before heading home to Nebraska. The couple’s 18-year-old son, Ethan, was climbing a rock that was adjacent to a trail bridge when part of the boulder broke off under his feet.
“My son ended up falling seven feet on his back to the rocks below, and the boulder that broke off landed on his chest and lacerated his hand,” his mom, Kristina, wrote on Facebook, “and then another one came down on his foot.”
“My first thought was, I’d rather have a paralyzed son who is alive than a dead one,” Kurt told NBC affiliate KING of the terrifying incident.
The family and Olympic National Park did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Kurt lifted the approximately 150-lb. piece of boulder off his son’s chest and thought, “This is it,” he told the outlet. None of the family had cell service, so Kristina went in search of help.
Before panic could fully set in, Kristina writes that a man, Jacob, arrived “out of nowhere.”
In the joint interview with KING, the couple said that Jacob encouraged them not to move Ethan and to wait until emergency personnel arrived. He even had ice for Ethan’s finger.
Jacob stayed with the family for two hours until first responders arrived.
In photos shared on Facebook, Ethan is strapped to a stretcher with his head stabilized. He was eventually life-flighted out by helicopter. Jacob was one of the men who helped carry him to safety, KING reported.
“I just reached out with tears in my eyes, and I said, ‘Thank you,’ ” Kurt told the outlet, pausing with emotion. He shook the stranger’s hand before the family was transported more than 200 miles to a hospital in Seattle.
In an update on Facebook, Kristina expressed her and her husband’s gratitude to Jacob, and their hopes to find him so they could thank him. The Borngrebes only knew the man’s first name and that he’d traveled from the Czech Republic.
In a note addressed to Jacob, Kristina wrote that Ethan had no internal injuries, calling it an “unexplained miracle.”
“Even the foot we thought for sure was broken looks almost normal now,” she continued. “The CT showed no broken ribs or internal injuries in his leg or chest.”
While Ethan underwent reconstructive hand surgery for his broken fingers and got stitches because of the cut in his thigh, he is expected to fully recover.
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In the Facebook update, Kristina asked the public to help her locate the stranger who helped her son.
“My family and I can’t decide if you are an angel or not,” Kristina wrote of Jacob’s assistance.
A couple of days later, Kristina revealed that she and Kurt had found Jacob after their story went viral. They were able to speak with him on the phone after a friend saw Kristina’s post.
Wrote Kristina, “We are just so blessed.”
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