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, was in danger of being hit when she jumped backward and accidentally went over a bridge on Kansas Highway 18 on Friday night, according to her friend, who detailed the incident in a GoFundMe fundraiser.
Kinnison, an animal science student, and her boyfriend, Dalten Grabast, were driving separate vehicles toward Salina. Their journey was interrupted near Ogden when a large pallet of insulation fell 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 at risk of being struck by a truck speeding along the highway.
As she moved to avoid the truck, Kinnison fell backward from the overpass, plunging about 70 feet before landing in a tree. She suffered fractures to her back, pelvis and tailbone.
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Celeen, a senior studying dairy science, said Tuesday that Kinnison was “doing very well for someone who fell 70 feet.”
Kinnison underwent surgery to realign her hips. Celeen also shared a photograph of the two friends smiling together.
Celeen said she was deeply relieved that her friend’s injuries had not been 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, Georgia, 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.
