It was a sunny April afternoon in 2023 when the accident happened. Cohen and his three siblings were staying with their grandparents while their parents were out of town. Being homeschooled, they had spent that morning at Uplift Coop in Redmond. For days, Cohen had been asking his grandfather, Scott, to take him climbing, and with the beautiful spring weather, they decided that afternoon would be the perfect time to head to Smith Rock State Park.

Scott recalls their day fondly: “We started out at Rope De Dope, a popular climbing spot for beginners and kids,” he said. They successfully completed a few climbs and rappels before deciding to move to a different location. “We found a great spot, so I started setting up the ropes for another rappel. I looked behind me, and there was Cohen—he was so eager, he couldn’t wait for me to call him up,” Scott remembered.

Scott rappelled down first to set up a fireman’s belay. After unclipping to take a few photos, he reached for the rope to signal Cohen that he was ready. But when Scott stood up and looked, Cohen was already descending—in a free fall, from 50 feet up.

“He came down feet first, but his feet hit a ledge, spinning him around, and then he fell face first,” Scott described, his voice heavy with emotion. Scott rushed to Cohen’s side, finding him face down, his head turned to one side. Cohen wasn’t unconscious, but he wasn’t fully present either. A bystander, who had seen the entire fall, immediately called 911. “It was the worst moment of my life,” Scott shared.

Cohen doesn’t remember much from that day. “I don’t recall the fall or even what happened earlier that day,” he says. “The only thing I remember is telling the flight crew that I was cold and that I couldn’t breathe very well.”

Life Flight Network transported Cohen to St. Charles Hospital in Bend, Oregon where he was stabilized before being flown to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland, where he spent the next 18 days. His injuries were severe: two punctured lungs, a bruised lung, a grade 3 liver and kidney laceration, seven pelvic fractures, a broken ankle, a broken wrist, and multiple broken ribs.

Cohen remembers one distinct moment during his recovery. “I was trying to spell the word ‘home’ with my fingers,” he said. “I couldn’t talk because of the tube down my throat. I just wanted to know when I could go home.”

A year has passed since the accident. Cohen has undergone extensive physical therapy, and though he has no desire to return to climbing, he has rediscovered his love for running, swimming, biking, and snowboarding. Now, he and his grandfather have traded their climbing adventures for time in the workshop, welding, and working with metal—a new shared passion that brings them together.