Oregon State University student falls 100 feet from mountain viewpoint to her death
An Oregon State University student died Sunday following a 100-foot fall from a viewpoint at Neahkahnie Mountain, KPTV reports.
Michelle Casey, 21, was taking pictures over a retaining wall when she slipped and fell off the steep edge, officials with the Tillamook County Sheriff's Office said. Casey, who was with her boyfriend at the time, reportedly landed on a tree that stopped her from plunging into the Pacific Ocean below.
First responders told the station that it was difficult for the rope team to rescue her, noting that it took nearly two hours to reach her.
"Assistance was requested from Cannon Beach for a Rope Rescue and they dispatched a High Angle Rescue Team who arrived at approximately 10:51 AM," authorities said in a press release, according to CNN.
Casey was flown to a hospital in Portland where she died shortly after.
The college student was a junior who majored in kinesiology at Oregon State's main campus in Corvallis, Steve Clark, the university's Vice President of Relations and Marketing, told the network.
"As a university community, we mourn at the loss of a community member — and certainly one so young," he said in an email.
Casey's family told KOIN that she had chosen to be an organ donor and "always brought people together with her bubbly personality and loving, giving heart."
"She loved singing in choir and her Starbucks customers as a barista in both Portland and Corvallis," the family statement read.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. As of Wednesday night, the fundraiser has raised $1,450 of its $3,000 goal.
