PIXABAY
The odds of dying in the Grand Canyon are 1-in-400,000, according to the Canyon’s website. Approximately 12 deaths happen each year at the Grand Canyon, including from natural causes, medical problems, suicide, heat, drowning and traffic crashes. Only an average of two to three deaths per year are from falls over the rim, which is not bad considering the Canyon had 6,254,238 visitors in 2017.
Emily Koford should count her lucky stars that she is not one of those people.
The 20-year-old Texas woman narrowly escaped a terrifying fall after carelessly walking on the rim to snap photos of her mother, Erin. She backed up one step too far and was one shoe-width sized ledge away from meeting her maker.
The incident was caught on video by a tourist who noticed the two posing negligently on the rock and wanted to show his kids “the stuff you don’t do.”
Emily’s mother, Erin, even told ABC that she told her daughter not to take another step back TWO TIMES, to no avail.
“I saw that the ledge was right there and I said, ‘Don’t take another step back.'” When her daughter did, Erin explained that her “stomach went up into [her] chest” and that after, she was “scared and angry all at the same time.”
After the near-death experience, Emily claims she’d “probably” revisit the Grand Canyon, but “probably won’t do that again.”
Probably? Unless the Instagram photo will get you over 100 likes. DAMN KIDS THESE DAYS.