A Kansas State University junior survived a 70-foot fall from an overpass on Highway 18 near Ogden, Kansas, after jumping backward to avoid being struck by a truck.
Kyra Kinnison, 21, an animal science student, was traveling with her boyfriend, Dalten Grabast, in a separate vehicle toward Salinas on Friday night when a large insulation pallet fell off a truck ahead of them, according to the Kansas State Collegian.
Fellow K-State student Sara Celeen, who started a GoFundMe for Kinnison, described what happened next to WIBW.
“[Kinnison’s boyfriend] swerved around it and stopped,” Celeen said. “[Kyra] pulled over to the side of the road, and then a vehicle crashed into his vehicle.”
With a crash unfolding in front of her and a truck bearing down on the highway, Kinnison jumped backward off the overpass to avoid being hit. She fell roughly 70 feet and landed in a tree, suffering fractures to her back, pelvis and tailbone.
Celeen, a dairy science senior, launched the fundraiser and said Tuesday that Kinnison “is doing very well for someone who fell 70 feet.” Kinnison has since had surgery to realign her hips, and Celeen shared a photo of the two of them smiling together.
“I’m just glad she’s not paralyzed for life,” Celeen told WIBW. “There was really a guardian angel out there, looking out for her.”
The incident comes as another college student, University of Georgia senior Kristin Sargent, 21, also survived a serious fall in recent days — an eighth-floor plunge from an Athens apartment building while dancing on a couch after Georgia’s 41-13 win over Oklahoma.
