An elderly man miraculously survived a fall at a deadly tourist cove in Oregon, nicknamed Devil’s Churn.
Jack Turnock, a 70-year-old man from Florida, tripped while taking a photo and fell 15 feet into the treacherous strait.
He managed to swim and climb up a ledge, before embarking on an agonising race against the rising tide.
“I wasn’t even close to the edge,” Turnock told YachatsNews. “I just tripped on a rock and headed over there. I wanted to take a picture and I just fell over to the other side and rolled over the edge.
“My first thought when I fell was ‘I hope there aren’t any rocks down here under water’. That was it. Then I thought, ‘Ah… I just ruined my camera’. I looked around and saw a ledge and swam over to it.”
Jack Turnock, 70, tripped while taking a photo and fell 15 feet into the treacherous strait.
Turnock was left with bloody shins but was otherwise remarkably uninjured as he waited for firefighters from the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District and members of other agencies to arrive.
The crew used a ladder to traverse the crevasse and scrambled up on all fours before pulling it down and lowering it to Turnock.
A rescuer climbed down and grabbed him to allow Turnock to climb back up.
Turnock’s girlfriend, Deborah See of Santa Cruz, described the touching moment she realized Turnock had fallen.
“We wanted to take some pictures, so we came down here,” See said. “I was still up there, so I didn’t see it fall, but I heard the splash.
Pictured: Waves crashing against rocks at Devils Churn along the Oregon coast.
“And I heard someone say, ‘Oh my God, someone fell,’ and I looked over and I didn’t see him and I was like, ‘Oh, shit.'”
See said Turnock’s physical fitness helped him stay alive.
“He’s a tough guy,” she added. “He’s in good shape for his age and he’s a racer. I’m very happy he’s OK.”
Authorities said relatively calm seas and low tide were major factors in Turnock’s survival.
“Be careful,” said Yachats Deputy Fire Chief Shelby Knife. “He’s one of the few people we got out of here alive.”
Things didn’t end so well in 2021, when a 67-year-old man from California tried to jump over the chasm but slipped and hit his head before plunging into the water and drowning.
