The child survived the fall and remains in hospital in a critical condition
A mum died, but her son survived, after she jumped with him from a 90-foot cliff onto the frozen banks of the Niagara Falls gorge.
According to state police, the 34-year-old, from Illinois jumped after climbing over a railing on Goat Island in Niagara State Park at around 12.30pm on February 12.
Her body was found near the Cave of the Winds complex, which sits on the US side of the falls that straddle the border with Canada. Her son, five, was rescued and transported to a children’s hospital in Buffalo with a head injury.
According to reports the boy underwent surgery and remains in a critical condition.
Photos obtained by DailyMail.com appear to show the youngster conscious while being loaded into an ambulance moments after the incident.
The woman was visiting from Illinois with her husband and son when they fell.
Police said that they were interviewing the husband as well as other witnesses, with Captain Chris Rola of New York State Parks Police saying the investigation “is ongoing, but we don’t believe it is an accident”.
A state police spokesperson on Thursday said the incident was being treated as a suicide attempt.
The Mail noted that the mum and son fell into the gorge in the area of the Cave of the Winds elevator which allowed rescuers to easily descend.
Niagara Falls Firefighters were able to carry the boy to the elevator and bring him up to a parking lot on the island, from where he was taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital in a helicopter.
Rescuers traversed over “300 feet of dangerous icy terrain” while trying to get to the victims, police said.
“Although today’s nice out it’s very icy down there so it’s real tough terrain that our guys and girls were able to get through and get to them and provide that life-saving care and do everything they could,” said Rola.
New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan told Buffalo News on Thursday that names would not be released “due to the possibility of this case being a suicide”.
He could not say why the family were visiting from Illinois.
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