Mom dies after jumping off 90-foot cliff with her 5-year-old son, New York cops say

A woman died after leaping from a cliff near Niagara Falls with her 5-year-old son, New York officials said. The child is in critical condition following a rescue operation.

The incident occurred on Feb. 13 on Goat Island, which is situated next to the Niagara Falls, according to a statement from Niagara Falls firefighters, citing Rob Bennett, a local reporter.

The woman, who has not been identified, jumped from a sheer cliff overlooking the river, she and her son falling into the rocky gorge below, firefighters said.

The pair tumbled about 90 feet and landed near the bottom of the gorge alongside the river’s edge, according to Buffalo News.

Park police and firefighters then navigated across about 300 feet of “dangerous icy terrain” to reach the mother and son, according to a statement from the New York State Park Police.

The woman died in the fall and the child was severely injured, firefighters said. Rescue teams pulled the boy from the gorge and transported him to a hospital via helicopter.

He underwent emergency surgery and is still in critical condition, park police said.

The mother and son’s identities will not be released, though park police said they are not residents of the Niagara Falls area. Officials told the Buffalo News that they interviewed the woman’s husband, who was with them at the park before the fall.

“The investigation is ongoing, but we don’t believe it is an accident,” a park police captain told the outlet.

Niagara Falls is considered a suicide “hotspot” alongside other landmarks like California’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, according to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine.

This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Mom dies after jumping off 90-foot cliff with her 5-year-old son, New York cops say."