A Kansas State University junior survived a 70-foot fall from an overpass after leaping backward to avoid being struck by a truck.
Kyra Kinnison, 21, an animal science student, was in danger of being hit when she jumped backward and accidentally fell from a bridge on Kansas Highway 18 Friday night, according to her friend in a GoFundMe campaign.
Kinnison and her boyfriend, Dalten Grabast, were traveling in separate vehicles toward Salina when their journey was interrupted near Ogden. A large pallet of insulation had fallen from a truck, The Kansas State Collegian reported.
“[Kinnison’s boyfriend] swerved around it and stopped,” Sara Celeen, a fellow Kansas State student who organized the fundraiser, told WIBW.
“[Kyra] pulled over to the side of the road, and then a vehicle crashed into his vehicle.”
The collision happened directly in front of the couple, leaving Kinnison in the path of a truck traveling rapidly along the highway.
As she moved backward to escape, Kinnison plunged approximately 70 feet and landed in a tree. She suffered fractures to her back, pelvis and tailbone.
Celeen, a senior studying dairy science, said Tuesday that her friend was “doing very well for someone who fell 70 feet.” She launched the fundraiser to help support Kinnison’s recovery.
Kinnison underwent surgery to realign her hips, and Celeen later shared a photo of the two friends smiling together.
Celeen said she remains deeply relieved that Kinnison’s injuries were not even more severe.
“I’m just glad she’s not paralyzed for life,” she told WIBW.
“There was really a guardian angel out there, looking out for her.”
Kinnison is not the only college student to survive a terrifying fall in recent weeks.
Kristin Sargent, a senior at the University of Georgia, survived after falling from the eighth floor of an apartment building in Athens while dancing on a couch.
The 21-year-old finance and marketing student fell after the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 41-13 on Saturday.