Murfreesboro, TN – Here is an UPDATE on a Friday (10/25/2024) story. WGNS has learned that it was a male MTSU student fell approximately 80-feet into Snail Shell Cave.  A medical evaluation of his injury still has not been released, but the university has released an official statement…

"An MTSU student sustained injuries from a fall while participating in a geosciences field trip to Snail Shell Cave in Rutherford County on Friday, Oct. 27. We in the Department of Geosciences are thankful to all the first responders who initially stabilized the student and then transported the student to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. We are also thankful to the medical staff at VUMC, where the student is recovering. Our thoughts are with the student and their family during this period of recovery."

Shortly after the incident occurred around 3:00 o’clock last Friday afternoon, WGNS reported that a group of MTSU students were taking an educational field trip to Snail Shell Cave in the Rockvale Community when one of them fell approximately 80-feet into the cavern.

Emergency responders were quickly on-the-scene where Rutherford County Fire and Rescue set up a high angle rope rescue where a team of paramedics went down the ropes to the rocky cave floor and began stabilizing the male student.

Once that was completed, the student was hoisted out-of-the sinkhole and placed on a LifeFlight helicopter where he was flown to the Vanderbilt Trauma Center.

Rutherford County Fire-Rescue Chief Larry Farley told WGNS, “I am extremely proud of our personnel and their commitment to providing the best outcome possible. They are constantly training and honing their skills, whether it be vehicle extrication, structure fires or high angle rope rescue. They are committed to providing their best response to the people of Rutherford County.”

Once again, WGNS has learned that the male MTSU student who fell 80-feet this past Friday afternoon in Snail Shell Cave is alive and recovering at the Vanderbilt Trauma Center in Nashville. As we learn more, WGNS will release it to you.