CLEVELAND (AP) - A 7-year-old boy who wandered away from home apparently fell about 50 feet from a sheer rock face down into a gorge at a nearby park, authorities said Thursday.
Andrew Nickol can't describe what happened to him. He's autistic and doesn't speak.
His paternal grandmother, Charlotte Nickol, said Andrew is in a hospital with a fractured pelvis, a broken hand and internal bruising, but he is expected to recover. He might go home in a few days if he's not sent to a rehabilitation facility, she said.
"God watches out for him," Charlotte Nickol said. "He's a very lovable boy, but he can't express himself to us."
The boy fell at Gorge Metro Park in the Akron suburb of Cuyahoga Falls. Steep trails lead from the top of the park down to a gorge created by the Cuyahoga River. Andrew lives with his mother and maternal grandmother about a block from the gorge, Charlotte Nickol said.
A Cuyahoga Falls police report said Andrew wandered off while playing outside with cousins Wednesday evening. Police were called when he was discovered to be missing. While two officers went to the home, a third went to the park. There, he learned that visitors had found Andrew on a wet, rocky pile near a waterfall at the bottom of the gorge. Three men carried Andrew up to the top of the park.
A police report said it appears Andrew fell about 50 feet along a sheer rock face near one of the park's waterfalls. The boy's shoes and a computer tablet were found on the trail above the rock face.
A Summit Metro Parks ranger who carried the boy to an ambulance described Andrew as "very dirty" with cuts on his face. The ranger reported that he began looking for Andrew after park visitors spotted him climbing the banks of the cliff without adult supervision.
A Cuyahoga Falls news release initially said the boy fell 135 feet, but a detailed police report said the distance was likely about 50 feet.