One man was injured but stable after a jump off the old wooden bridge in Brunswick Canyon on Sunday about 5 p.m. The bridge, which spans a slowly moving Carson River, is closed to traffic. The unidentified man, a white male about forty years of age, had been jumping off the bridge with another adult male.
The victim suffered breaks to both legs, and a partially severed heel according to Wayne Asher, one of the first passers-by at the scene.
"I went down there, and tried to get him out of the water," Asher said, noting once that was accomplished, a tourniquet did little to stop the bleeding, so they applied pressure with a blanket and elevated the leg. "It was bad."
The victim was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital for treatment.
"It was just a couple of party boys having fun and jumping off the bridge," Patty Miller, friend and witness to the accident said, noting there is one deep pool that is relatively safe, but there are cement piles near the deeper area. She said they had been drinking beer, but were not drunk. "If you don't hit it just right, (the accident) happens."
Miller said a gust of wind caught the man as he jumped, moving him over just enough to cause the accident. She called 911 on her cell phone, but could not get through. She finally called a friend, who then contacted authorities.
A Carson City Fire Department engine, ambulance, and a squad car responded to the call, which came in at about 5:30 p.m. according to Carson City Fire Department spokesperson Eric Bero.
"We get a lot of calls out here . . . People are always getting in the river when it's high, and there are a lot of brush fires, overdoses, and fights," Bero said.
