Jeep Plunges 150 Feet Off Cliff, Hero Gives Life To Save Grandson

RED RIVER, NM — Many grandparents would say they’d die protecting their grandkids, but their resolve is never tested as Gerard Greenough’s was earlier this month. He cocooned his 13-year-old grandson Austyn in his arms as his Jeep tumbled 150 feet off a mountain cliff in New Mexico, sacrificing his own life, but saving the boy’s.

Grateful but grieving, Austyn says he knows he’s alive because of his grandfather. He remembers Greenough’s arms around him, remembers gripping his sleeve as the Jeep rolled over and over and gained momentum. He recalls, terrifyingly, the moment his grandfather lost his grip and “I flew out.”

“If he wouldn’t have held onto me and saved me, then I don’t think I would be here,” Austyn told television station KOAT in Oklahoma, where the family lives.

There was no shortage of heroism that day — Sept. 1 — during a family off-roading trip up the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Red River. Greenough has been taking the camping trip for about 20 years, and this is the first time Austyn and his twin brother, Tyler, were invited to come along.

Tyler and his and Austyn’s dad, Tony, were coming down the mountain in a separate vehicle and watched the horror unfold. Greenough high-centered his Jeep on a rock in the trail. He gunned the engine to free it, causing the rocks below it to slide and send the vehicle plummeting down the mountain.
.
Tony rappelled down the mountain and hauled his son back up the mountain to a waiting ambulance. An off-duty paramedic slid down the incline, and performed CPR on the hero grandfather, 63, for about 20 minutes, but was unable to resuscitate him.

It’s a “miracle” Austyn survived, said his mother, Amanda Kerley, and there is no doubt in her mind that it was her father who was orchestrating it. Just as the Jeep began to tip, he did everything he could to save Austyn, cocooning him in his arms to protect him during the long fall.

“My daddy gave his life to save him and he would do it over and over again,” Kerley told KOAT. “That’s who my dad was.”

Austyn was in respiratory distress by time his dad got him to an awaiting ambulance. He had lost 40 percent of his blood, had spinal injuries, a punctured lung and broken ribs, and he lost his spleen.

Austyn, who was released from the hospital ahead of schedule, and his family plan a hike up the mountain to the crash site to honor Greenough.

File photo: Michael Szönyi / imageBROKER/Shutterstock