Toddler survives cliff tumble that kills mom in Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. - A 3-year-old boy survived a 50-foot fall at a popular Oregon hiking trail that killed his 37-year-old mother.
Multnomah County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Alexander says deputies responded late Sunday afternoon after learning that two hikers had fallen off a cliff at Horsetail Falls along the Columbia River Gorge.
The woman and the boy fell about 50 feet and then tumbled another 20-to-30 feet down a slope.
The woman was brought up to the trailhead, but died at the scene. The medical examiner's office identified her as Stephanie Cohen of Portland.
An ambulance took her son to Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Alexander described the boy's injuries as serious.
Danielle Dalbok, a friend of Cohen's, told CBS affiliate KOIN in Portland the mom leapt off the cliff when she saw her boy go over the edge.
"One of the twins fell off the side and she jumped, jumped right after him," Dalbok said. She wasn't surprised Cohen would jump to get him "because it's Stephanie."
"I believe she did save him," Dalbok said. "What makes it interesting is that she didn't pass until she knew he was OK and that kind of, for me, says it all. She needed to see he was OK, and she sat up and saw him and laid back down and passed shortly thereafter."