This waterfall at Stone Mountain State Park was the location of a
fatal fall for a Mount Airy man Saturday.
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Man dies in fall at Stone Mountain Park
By JULE HUBBARD
Staff
A Mount Airy man died in a fall about 2:15 p.m. Saturday at one of
the most heavily visited areas of Stone Mountain State Park.
Jimmy Shane Wilkinson, 28, fell over 100 feet down Stone Mountain
Falls after climbing over halfway up the right side of the waterfall
instead of using a wooden stairway with rails on the left side, said
Stone Mountain State Park Superintendent Ed Farr. The falls are on
Big Sandy Creek.
Farr said Wilkinson was at the base of the waterfall with his
brother, his brother's girlfriend and his nephew when he started
climbing up rocks on the right side of the waterfall, a route without
a trail. The brother was identified as David Stone, also of Mount Airy.
Farr said Wilkinson's nephew, who is about 12, followed but soon
climbed back down to the base of the waterfall.
"The brother of the victim (Stone) yelled to him to come back, but he
didn't and kept climbing up," he added. "The brother then wondered
where he (Wilkinson) would be able to cross over" to the trail on the
left side.
Stone had started up the steps when he heard another park visitor
scream and realized Wilkinson had fallen, said Farr.
According to visitors on a viewing platform along the steps about two-
thirds of the way up the waterfall, he said, Wilkinson was in the
stream while trying to cross from the right side to the left side
just below the platform when he slipped and fell.
Farr said Wilkinson slid a long distance and hit one or two rock
ledges in the first 60 feet of his fall and was airborne for about
the same distance until his fall ended at the base of the waterfall.
He had multiple severe injuries.
He said that including people at the base of the waterfall, on the
platform or elsewhere on the steps, about 30 visitors were nearby
when the accident occurred.
Farr said Stone rushed to where his brother landed and believed he
saw indications that Wilkinson was still alive, but two park visitors
were performing CPR on him without success when rescue personnel
arrived.
Members of the Wilkes Rescue Squad and first responders from the
Traphill Fire Department arrived about the same time, said Farr.
Wilkes Emergency Medical Services personnel also were on the scene.
Mike Lane, captain of the Wilkes Rescue Squad, said he arrived at the
top of the falls after walking in from park's main picnic area and
radioed Wilkes Regional Medical Center.
Wilkinson was carried for about 400 yards by emergency personnel in a
Stokes basket.
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