Newport Beach : Victim of Balcony Fall Airlifted to Hospital
A Newport Beach man who suffered serious head injuries Sunday night in a fall from a 12-foot balcony had to be airlifted to an area hospital because of snarled beach traffic, authorities said.
The victim, identified as Jim Cassidy, about 30 years old, fell from a balcony in the 200 block of 21st Street on Balboa Peninsula about 7 p.m. while visiting friends, Fire Department paramedic Dave Bowman said.
Bowman said Cassidy fell onto a concrete patio, striking his head and becoming temporarily unconscious.
“We made a decision to airlift him out because beach area traffic was so heavy,” Bowman said. An ambulance took Cassidy to the nearby intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Balboa Boulevard. A medical air-evacuation helicopter then landed at that intersection and took Cassidy to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.
Bowman said he did not know how Cassidy happened to fall from the balcony.
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