La Jolla
A 19-year-old man died early Wednesday after falling 87 feet off Deadman’s Cliff near La Jolla Cove, Mission Bay Harbor Patrol officials reported.
The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. when David Andrew Macilvaine of Chula Vista and two friends were on the edge of the cliff, Lifeguard Lt. Buster Mico said.
Mico said one of Macilvaine’s friends, 20-year-old Keven Elliott, also of Chula Vista, grabbed him by the jacket but was unable to hold on as Macilvaine fell over the edge.
Lifeguard Sgt. Michael O’Hare said one friend ran for help while the other remained at the top of the cliff above Macilvaine, who was calling for help.
O’Hare said city lifeguards arrived 20 minutes later, and took Macilvaine from the water with the help of a Border Patrol helicopter, which provided lighting on the dark caves below.
He said lifeguards found the man floating in the water and gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation before he was transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla. He was pronounced dead at 5:59 a.m. at the hospital, Deputy Coroner Robert Engle said.
Engle said Macilvaine was a student at a welding school.
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