12-year-old girl flown to hospital after fall from rock wall at Camp Ernst

Dan Griffin Updated: 10:57 PM EDT Jul 27, 2021

BURLINGTON, Ky. —

A young girl fell 20 feet from a rock wall at a YMCA camp and was airlifted to Cincinnati Children's Hospital on Tuesday.

Officials said her prognosis is good, but they want to figure out exactly what happened to prevent another fall.

YMCA Camp Ernst leaders said the girl, about 12 or 13 years old, according to fire officials, is part of their overnight camp program.

They said she was on a ropes course when she fell.

"She was talking, she was moving her arms and legs and the initial prognosis is that she's doing OK," YMCA of Greater Cincinnati Chief Development Officer, Alison Hansen, said.

It is a scare that has the YMCA Camp Ernst location in Boone County digging deeper.

Hansen said the girl fell 20 feet at about 3 p.m. Tuesday as she climbed a rock wall.

"She was on the rock wall portion of the course and she was tethered and did have a helmet on as all of our campers do. We are, this is so new and this is so fresh, that we're still trying to figure out what exactly took place today and how she fell," Hansen said.

The girl, officials said, takes part in an overnight camp.

Hansen said both day and overnight camps are continuing as they investigate.

"We have immediately closed the course so we can take a look and see what happened and make sure all of our equipment is working properly," she said.

She told WLWT about 15 children and counselors were nearby as staff nurses helped in a matter of minutes.

Hansen said AirCare responded out of an abundance of caution.

She said there have been no problems at the rock wall before, but they will make changes to prevent another fall.

"My twin girls were here as overnight campers just last week. I picked them up on Sunday and you, as a parent, you feel for the child, you feel for the family, you certainly understand the stress that they are going through when they get that phone call that their child has been injured," Hansen said.

Burlington fire officials said the girl was conscious and alert, and complained of a headache, but had no broken bones.

Camp leaders told WLWT the family and the girl are both in their thoughts and prayers.

YMCA Camp Ernst leaders also said children who were there have been talking with counselors about what they saw and how they feel.

They told us they were also about to call their parents and guardians to talk with them about the incident.