This is why awareness at all times is so crucial. Kodiak, Alaska native Maria Pestrikoff was walking, texting and smoking a a cigarette at the same time. She approached the edge of a cliff near her home in an effort to dispose of her cigarette butt, but slipped on the grass and fell 60 feet. Her friend Anthony Burke says she was caught between rocks and boulders, "screaming in agony" for help.
Rescuers had to rush to save Pestrikoff, because the tide below was almost up to her toes. After being stabilized, she was placed on a stretcher and lifted up the cliff. She suffered severe injuries, but was in stable condition. The lesson here is to know the ledge, not the unfriendly ground below.
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[via The Huffington Post]