A 34-year-old Grand Junction man was rescued Wednesday from a van teetering off a cliffside about 170 feet above a canyon floor.
Daniel J. Lyons, 34, drove his van off a road in the steep red-rock canyons of Colorado National Monument on Wednesday afternoon, and the vehicle dropped, tumbled and rolled 120 feet before getting snagged on brush and a rock ledge.
“It’s jaw-dropping,” said Joan Anzelmo, park superintendent. “It got caught on an outcropping of rock; that’s what saved his life.”
Some 50 rescue personnel — including park rangers, Grand Junction firefighters, volunteer firefighters and Mesa County sheriff’s deputies — performed a technical extraction in the dark to rescue Lyons, Anzelmo said.
The incident began at about 4:30 p.m. when Lyons called 911.
“He told dispatchers he was down a cliff somewhere in the Colorado National Monument and his car had gone off the road,” Anzelmo said.
Based on Anzelmo’s description of the road and area, a park ranger and volunteer firefighter were able to find Lyons’ 1987 Dodge van.
They got down the mountainside and found him sitting in the back seat of the van, teetering off a cliff.
More rescue personnel arrived, lights were set up and a litter was roped down to the van. Lyons was cautiously placed into the litter and pulled up to the road and safety.
He was flown by helicopter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction in stable condition, Anzelmo said.
The hospital said today that he was in good condition.
After the rescue, Lyons told authorities he accidentally drove off the roadway, Anzelmo said.
The incident, however, remains under investigation.
“He feels it was an accident going over the edge of Rim Rock Drive,” Anzelmo said. “It has all the signs that he intentionally drove off.”
There were no brake or skid marks on the roadway, and the tire tracks in dirt off the road ran in a straight line to the edge of the mountain, she said.
“The sense we had last night was that it was intentional,” Anzelmo said.
Suicides and suicide attempts have been a problem at the park, where rangers annually prevent about a dozen people from taking their lives. Typically, over the course of a year, about two or three people are successful, according to park staff.
Responders were satisfied that Lyon’s rescue went smoothly and was successful.
“It’s truly a miracle,” Anzelmo said. “Another few inches or a foot and that car would have continued onto the base of the canyon. No one survives those types of accidents. We’re glad he’s alive.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
