Man hurt in fall off swing over Vickery Creek

By CHRISTIAN BOONE and BOB ANDRES

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For the second time in a week, a man had to be rescued from a Roswell creek popular with teens and young adults.

Enlarge photo

Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com The rope team uses a stokes basket stabilized with a safety line to rescue Travis Gaddy, of Marietta, after he slipped and fell some 10 to 15 feet, landing on his face, at Vickery Creek.

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Colin McMackin, 22, said he and his friend Travis Gaddy, both of Marietta, were swinging off a rope at the Vickery Creek waterfall when Gaddy slipped and fell some 10 to 15 feet, landing on his face.

Gaddy escaped with a broken nose, McMackin said.

Last Monday’s victim fell twice as far while trying to walk across the waterfall. He landed on his tailbone but escaped serious injury.

“We’ve performed several rescues there (at Vickery Creek),” said Paul Piccirilli, spokesman for the Roswell Fire Department.

Firefighters used a Stokes basket with a flotation device to get Gaddy ashore -- just as they did during last week’s rescue. McMackin said his friend was initially unconscious but is expected to recover fully.

In response to these two latest incidents, the U.S. National Park Service is cutting down the large tree limb where the rope swing was knotted, Piccirilli said.