Hiker, 18, Recalls Ordeal After Close Call on Cliff

A teenager who fell 80 feet down a slope and stopped just short of a cliff reflected with his parents Monday on how fortunate he was.

“The way I look at it, there was somebody out there looking out for Shaun,” said Gary Gray, whose son was rescued from a ravine Saturday night.

“Most 18-year-olds feel they’re rather invincible,” he said. “Shaun, I think, got a rude awakening.”

The Grays did not learn until later just how grave the situation might have been. The rescuer turned out to be a family friend, paramedic Tim Perkins. He was the first on the scene, rappelling down the slippery hillside to secure Gray with a harness.

Shaun Gray made light of the incident at the time, calling to tell his parents that he “had a tumble down a hill,” his father said. He told his mother, Janet Gray, that he was fine but scratched. They learned from Perkins on Sunday that their son had been just 40 feet from a 150- to 200-foot drop.

“Not only was it a tough spot, but it was raining and it was cold,” Perkins said. “I don’t even know if he realizes how lucky he is.”

On Sunday, the family went to the site and reconstructed the accident.

Gray, a senior at Dana Hills High School, had gone to meet five friends in Laguna Niguel and was hiking along unfamiliar ground near Talavera Drive at 7 p.m. when he saw an opening between two fences.

He walked through, thinking it was a path, and began falling. He tried to climb up the hill but kept sliding back. He managed to steady himself by planting one foot on a rock and grabbing a tree root. Then he began yelling into the darkness.

His friends heard his cries, and one of them ran to a guard shack at a nearby gated community to call 911. The other four tried to comfort Gray until a rescue team arrived and a helicopter lighted the heavily wooded slope.

Recalling his ordeal, Gray said Monday, “I don’t think anyone’s New Year’s story can beat mine.

“You don’t really appreciate everything you have until it’s almost taken away. Forty feet away, and I would have dropped 12 stories. What was weird was, I managed to cope with it throughout the day. Then it hit me. It blew my mind. I actually couldn’t sleep last night.”