Dallas

After 50-Foot Fall, Teen Warns Others of Taking Dangerous Selfies

Triston Bailey fell after he went over a concrete barrier to try to take a selfie

Triston Bailey, 18, shouldn't be here today, not in the condition he is in.

"It's an amazing story of luck, or hope, or faith," Bailey told reporters gathered at Methodist Dallas Medical Center Tuesday morning.

Bailey was with friends on Nov. 12, driving over the Margaret McDermott Bridge, when they stopped to take a selfie off Interstate 30.

"I was going over the concrete barrier and they heard me exclaim, and they thought I was joking, that I was just trying to mess with them," Bailey said.

He wasn't joking. There's a gap between the road and the pedestrian walkway. Bailey fell 50 feet to the ground.

"They looked over. Just like the movies, I'm just laid out there on the dirt."

Bailey went to Methodist Dallas, where doctors found he had a broken pelvis, fractured ribs and other internal injuries, but nothing like what they'd expect from someone who fell 50 feet.

"He was the perfect specimen to survive that injury. There are a lot of people who wouldn't have been able to," trauma surgeon Dr. Edgar Araiza remarked. "We have people that fall from 10 feet and never leave the hospital, so for this young man to fall from 50 feet in the middle of the night into God knows what, and to emerge with his injuries is truly miraculous."

"I easily could have been gone," Bailey said. "If it was just one more rotation, I would not be here."

He could have snapped his neck, instead Bailey is in rehab and still hopes to join the Air Force. Bailey said he was telling his story to discourage others from risking their lives for that perfect selfie.

"They have this concept that it just won't happen to me," Methodist Dallas Chief of Trauma Dr. Darryl Amos said. "So when one of their friends experiences that and is brave enough and has the courage to step forward and tell his story, it's a message I hope will resonate with his peer group."

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