TEENAGER HURT IN FALL AT QUARRY

A 17-year-old Notre Dame High School student was in serious but stable condition Wednesday in the surgical intensive care unit at Southeast Missouri Hospital after he fell from the wall of an abandoned rock quarry in Trail of Tears State Park.

The accident occurred shortly after noon Tuesday, according to Assistant Park Superintendent Greg Henson.

Henson said the victim, Brian Brandtner of 1556 Bunker Hill, and six other high-school-age students parked their vehicles at the scenic overlook bluff and hiked down an unauthorized trail to the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks. They then apparently walked along the tracks to the old quarry.

Brandtner, a junior at Notre Dame High School this fall, was a first-team varsity soccer and baseball player during his sophomore year for the Bulldogs. This year, he was expected to start in basketball as well.

"Brian's a good person," said Notre Dame basketball coach and athletic director Chris Janet. "You never like to see things like this happen to someone. He's a tough kid, though."

Henson said Brandtner and the others were on some type of picnic apparently not school-sponsored when the mishap occurred.

"The boy had climbed about 85 feet up the narrow ridge of the east wall of the quarry when he slipped and fell over the east side of the quarry wall, toward the railroad track," Henson said.

"He free-fell at least 50 feet before hitting a tree on the side of the wall, then he fell the rest of the way and landed on the ground, alongside a concrete retaining wall next to the railroad tracks."

Henson said that one of the group members ran to the overlook bluff and drove to the park's maintenance shop near Lake Boutin for help following the fall.

Henson said Bill Nunn, a park maintenance employee who also is a first aid instructor, and two other park employees drove to the John L. Wescoat Marina. At the Marina, Burlington Northern Railroad high-rail trucks transported them and Cape County Private Ambulance Service paramedics over the tracks to the old quarry.

"He was in pretty bad shape when Bill arrived," said Henson. "He had some pretty bad fractures of the leg and arm and some internal injuries. They had a hard time getting a pulse because he was going into shock."

Henson said Southeast Missouri Hospital's LifeBeat medical helicopter was called in to airlift the injured boy out of the quarry to the Cape Girardeau hospital.

He said the helicopter pilot had to do some fancy flying to get the chopper in the quarry.

"He flew under two power lines and trimmed some limbs on a few trees when he came into the quarry," he said.

Henson said the park employees told him the tree on the side of the quarry wall may have saved Brandtner's life.

"The tree apparently broke some of his free-fall, although he did receive some facial injuries when he hit the tree," he said.

Henson said the old rock quarry has been the site of several serious accidents since he's been at the park.

"We try to discourage people from walking up to the quarry," he said. "We've tried to keep all of the trails away from the quarry area, but most of the local high school and college-age people are aware of the quarry, and it's almost a tradition for them to go up there.

"Usually, something happens when one of them gets drunk, thinks they're in Acapulco and tries to jump off the cliff into the pond and winds up getting hurt," he said. "This is the first time anyone has fallen off the railroad side of the quarry wall."

Henson noted it is illegal for anyone to walk along the railroad tracks to the quarry.

Burlington Northern officials said they have repeatedly warned those who walk along the tracks in the park that they are trespassing on railroad property and are endangering their lives and the lives of others, as they could be struck by a train.

Railroad officials said it is very difficult to see or hear approaching trains in the park because of the sharp curves and steep hills.

"It is very dangerous and illegal to be on those tracks in the park," said Henson. "When something does happen along the tracks, the railroad has to stop all of the trains until we get the tracks cleared."

Henson said the state several years ago considered blasting the east wall of the quarry to prevent people from climbing up the wall. But he said the idea was discarded because it would have caused a serious disruption to rail traffic between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., and would have caused extensive damage to the tracks and roadbed.