17-year-old thanks first responders who saved his life after near 40

POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - It was Fall Break.

17-year-old Luka Mijatovic and his friends decided to spend the day hiking at Red River Gorge on September 30.

“I thought I was picking a pretty moderate trail to be on,” Mijatovic said.

But things quickly took a turn when the group reached Courthouse Rock.

“From what my friends told me, we tried to climb up on this rock but we realized, like it wouldn’t be possible,” Mijatovic said.

When they tried to turn around, ”that’s when I slipped and I couldn’t catch my footing. And so I just fell off the ledge I guess,” Mijatovic said.

When Luka fell, he suffered a major concussion and injured his back and shoulder.

But he wasn’t the only one hurt. He says his friend slipped too.

“He fell like a straight 30 feet. Mine was more like a tumble,”