Are you a fan of True Stories? Interesting history, celebrity trivia, true crime, weird news? Then you're going to love my podcast, True Stories with Seth Andrews. And I'm your host, Seth Andrews, releasing five-minute podcast vignettes three times a week. Search True Stories with Seth Andrews on Spreaker and all major podcast apps or visit the website, truestoriespodcast.com. We hear this sliding gravel type noise. I hear trees break and I hear the echo. And I go, he just threw a rock off. We go like three, four minutes of yelling. He's not yelling back. And I specifically remember we were all like, not funny, dude. This is The Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones. And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a captivating true story, but we're also seeking more light in our lives. So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable, uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us on this journey. Welcome back to this remastered edition of our first ever episode about the fall of Matt Wyrick. Yeah, I just have to say, I am terrified of heights. And of all of our episodes that we have done, this one still gives me the most nightmares. I bet because that's like your biggest phobia, right? Oh my gosh. It's like not rational, but the fear is so real. I mean, I literally have dreams like every other night about falling off a cliff. So this story, it gets me, but it was really fun to revisit this episode, add some new music, some sound effects. It's an amazing story. It's unbelievable. And even if you've already heard this story before, besides the changes that we've made to the story, we've got some really cool stuff at the end. So make sure you stay for that. All right, let's jump in. Let's do it. The day of June 23rd, 2004, started with a simple plan to go find kangaroos in the Australian bush. The four missionaries drove toward an isolated area near Bunda Noon, a small town whose aboriginal name means the Place of Deep Gullies. These young men had no idea how dangerous those deep gullies could be. As they drove, they saw a sign that read Grand Canyon Lookout. After a short discussion, the missionaries decided the kangaroos could wait. The lookout sounded even more exciting. Here's Chris Peterson, one of the missionaries there that day. By like happenstance, we weren't even going to this place. We just see a sign that said Grand Canyon Lookout. So then we're like, let's go see what the Australian Grand Canyon looks like. The missionaries parked and found a trail overlooking a vast canyon filled with sheer rock cliffs amongst lush eucalyptus trees. Missionaries for this particular church are called by the title of Elder. So at the time, 21-year-old Matthew Wyrick was known to his companions as Elder Wyrick. As zone leader, Elder Wyrick had charge over the group. He was accompanied by his companion, Elder Peterson, as well as Elder Mortensen and Elder Kornberg. As they walked along a trail overlooking the canyon, they would stop and throw boulders over the edge. They would then listen for the crash and echo of the boulder finally smashing at the floor of the over 200-foot deep canyon. Where we were at, there was like a cliff face, right? And we were throwing these big boulders off the side just to see the sound they would make or just see how long they would take to hit the ground. And when they would hit, we would hear them echo and they would go through the whole canyon. And you'd hear the trees break, you know, it was like they were falling through. Elder Wyrick spotted a ledge below that looked easy enough to get to. As a national champion All-American pole vaulter, Elder Wyrick was pretty certain he was invincible. His athletic success had given him confidence in his ability to scale the walls of this canyon with ease. Elder Mortensen followed Elder Wyrick down to the ledge where they investigated a carved-out, cave-like area. I remember when him and Elder Mortensen were climbing down there, another car had pulled up. And they said, I hope we don't see you guys on the news later. And Elder Mortensen was climbing around down there and his foot got caught in one of the cracks of the wall. He couldn't get his foot out, so he had to take his foot out of his shoe. When he did that, his shoe then came loose from the rock and rolls off and falls down off the cliff. Now, this wasn't just any shoe. This was an Air Jordan. And not only did Elder Mortensen love these shoes, but he'd let Elder Weirich borrow them on occasion. Elder Weirich loved these shoes perhaps even more than Elder Mortensen did. Without a moment's hesitation, Elder Weirich began climbing further down and around to a lower ledge of the cliff, assuring Elder Mortensen that he would get his shoe back. I do remember some pushback from all of us, even including Elder Mortensen, because he was like, don't worry about it, that's like a long ways, it's fine. But he's like, no, no, I got it. Did we mention Elder Wyrick thought he was invincible? Fear wasn't even in his vocabulary. As he climbed down to another ledge, he called to the other missionaries, and they would call back to him periodically to help guide him to where the shoe might be. But then, Elder Wyrick spotted something he couldn't resist. A large tree shot out over the canyon and elbowed vertically into the sky. He decided it wasn't only a great place to get a view of the shoe, but also a perfect spot for a photo op Elder Wyrick wrapped his arms and legs around the huge tree trunk and made his way to the top of the tree He leaned out and yelled to the other missionaries asking them to take his picture. They couldn't see the full tree, but they could see the top of it, where Elder Wyrick leaned out. Elder Wyrick took in the majestic cliffs and greenery below him. He could see the whole canyon and beyond stretched out before him. It was breathtaking. And then Elder Wyrick started the descent down the tree. Only, it wasn't nearly as easy going down as it had been going up. The trunk was so large, and the bark so smooth, it was impossible to get a good grip anywhere. For the first time, Elder Wyrick felt a gut punch of fear in his stomach, as he realized how slippery and steep it was. The missionary stood above, waiting, hoping to see their friend appear back on the trail any moment But instead, they heard the sound of gravel falling, followed by the loud crack of tree branches breaking And an echo of what they thought was a boulder crashing to the canyon floor Elder Wyrick was such a jokester. They knew he had to be playing a trick on them. They called his name. They waited. Silence. They called out again. Nothing. They were sure this had to be a joke, but as the minutes ticked on, a feeling of dread washed over them. There was no one around anymore, and they had no phone to call for help. The only thing left to do was pray. Now we're starting to get very concerned. We're yelling off the cliff face for him, just seeing if we can get any type of response, and we're not getting one, and then the three of us get down and pray, and then we come back up the hill, and a car had just pulled up. A couple exited the vehicle, and the missionaries asked if they had a mobile phone. Gratefully, they did, and the missionaries were able to make two calls. One to the police, and another to their mission president, before they lost cell coverage completely. When the police arrived, they were perplexed at how the missionaries could have called them, because there was no cell reception in the area. Immediately, they went to work searching for Elder Wyrick. It got very hectic, very fast. Search and rescue, and detectives, people with repelling gear. We're watching these people with like re-tailing gear going down the side of this cliff face. And we're like very much in shock. It just didn't feel real. The three missionaries felt disoriented and shocked. But as night fell and search and rescue called off the search due to safety concerns, the heaviness of reality set in. The ride back to the mission home was a somber one. It hadn't been a boulder falling. Their friend lay 230 feet down, or approximately 21 stories, at the bottom of a cliff. And no one was going to find him tonight. It was June, and June is winter in Australia. Even if their friend had somehow impossibly survived, the temperatures had been below freezing every night that week. There was no way Elder Weirich could survive a freezing night. Back at the mission home, the mission president knelt with the missionaries. And so he says the prayer and he says, we know everything is your will, but if you can, please give us a miracle. I remember him asking for a miracle in that prayer. No one slept that night. I remember laying there in the bottom bunk, staring up at the wood planks above me of the bunk bed and pleading with God for hours like I will do anything to not have him be, you know, to have him be okay. Like bargaining with anything I had at that point, right? That's what I remember. And we were all in the same room. I know we weren't sleeping. I know none of us were sleeping. We also weren't talking to each other. You know, it was like we were all just kind of like laying there still in shock. The next morning at sunrise, the missionaries returned with their mission president to the site of the fall. They showed search and rescue again exactly where Elder Wirek had fallen. But this wasn't a rescue mission anymore. It was a body retrieval mission. We all, I think, kind of lost faith at that point that he was okay. You know, we'd gone overnight, something up all night, we're exhausted. Like, there's no way that he's okay after falling that far. We saw the cliff. I mean, it was massive. The missionaries solemnly drove back with their mission president to the mission home. Across the world in Texas, Elder Weirich's parents were heading out on a vacation where they'd be without cell coverage for a week. Only, they missed their flight. That morning, they both slept through their alarms. As they worked to rearrange their plans, they received a call informing them that their son had fallen off a 230-foot cliff. They immediately booked the soonest flight they could to Australia. Meanwhile, rescuers had descended down the steep cliffs and scoured the dense forest floor of the Australian Grand Canyon, searching for a body. As they made their way along a smaller cliff's edge, they noticed some torn clothing in a tree, followed by a trail of blood. At the mission home in Australia the missionary sat tensely waiting for hours for the call from the police telling them when Elder Weirich body had been found We then sit for what seems like hours of agony with just no news I mean, we're just sitting there with like, you can hear the clock ticking on the wall. Finally, one of them's like, that's it, I'm calling him. And so he picks up the phone and he's looking at us, he's making eye contact with us. So we're like trying to read every twitch of his eyes, right? And he's like, you found him? And I remember him giving us the thumbs up, and then he mouths he's alive. Elder Wyrick was alive. It's impossible to put into words the way the missionaries felt hearing this news, but they were definitely filled with gratitude and shock. No one had expected to find him alive, and no one can begin to explain how he survived the fall. What we do know is the rescuers were able to follow the trail of blood to where Matt lay semi-conscious. He survived partially because he crawled 30 feet after landing and lay at an angle on a rock, where his head was below his body, keeping the blood flow steady to his brain. The weather that night was unusually warm. It was the perfect temperature to help keep Elder Weirich's brain from swelling while not freezing him to death. The fact that Elder Weirich was alive was nothing short of a miracle. But now the missionaries wondered what was his outlook. Had he broken every bone in his body? Would he continue to survive the coming days? And if he did, would he be brain damaged to the point where he wouldn't be able to function at all? Here's what happened in Matthew Weirich's own words. They expected when they lifelied me in and put me in the hospital that everything was going to be shattered, broken, that I would have every type of thing. So they put me through a CAT scan and MRIs only to find out that there was no bones broken other than I had a hairline fracture above my right orbital where I hit the ground with my head. Elder Weirich was immediately put into an induced coma. However, within 24 hours, his vitals were so good that the doctors decided to bring him out of the coma. Still, he wasn't responding in any way. If he didn't show any sign of response, the doctors had decided they would need to perform a procedure where they would drill into his skull to relieve the pressure. They found out my name, Matthew Weirich. So they were calling me Matt, Matt, Matt, or Matthew, Matthew, Matthew. the mission president came to the hospital and they were telling him what would happen and he was like well that's your problem for these past 18 19 months that he's been out here he's only been known as elder you know so he goes and he says elder wake up you slept in you gotta study your scriptures and when that happened they saw a flinch on my finger they said oh elder if you can hear us wiggle your finger. I did make a small movement and they're like, amazing. We don't have to do surgery. He's going to get out. When my parents came in, at first I didn't recognize them and I was a little confused. And then my mom hugged me. And when that happened, it clicked with me and made me realize and understand that my parents were there and everything was fine. Elder Weirich continued to improve over the next few days. The doctors all agreed every aspect of this survival story defied reason. The head neurosurgeon, one of the best in Australia, says, you know what? This is beyond medical science. I cannot describe medically what he is able to do and his progression. It's what I would deem as a medical miracle. No one could understand how quickly I progressed. Elder Wyrick became an overnight sensation. He was on 60 Minutes Australia, and for four to five days, he was the cover story everywhere you went in Australia, dubbed the Miracle Man of Bundanoon. Chris Peterson still can't believe it. For him to fall and then not break a bone, I heard his body hit and echo through the valley. I heard the trees break, and everybody was just very stunned that he lived. What became so much more stunning was to find out his condition after the fact. It was truly unbelievable. But the miracles didn't stop there. Within a month, Elder Weirich returned home. He visited a neurologist in the United States, who said Matthew's brain looked completely normal. When the doctor received the original CAT scan images, taken shortly after the fall, and compared them to these new perfect scans, his shock couldn't be contained. He simply described it as medically impossible. And it was. Yet it wasn't. Because with God, all things are possible. And because of this one miracle, many lives have been touched. Many people's faith and hope have increased. And Matthew himself has been changed forever. I felt invincible. I felt like nothing could touch me, nothing could hurt me, that I was going to be anything and everything that I wanted to be. And so that leveled me back to being humble and understanding like how without Heavenly Father, nothing in this life is possible. For over a year, he worked tirelessly to regain his strength and coordination until eventually he was able to return to pole vaulting at Brigham Young University. I was not going to have someone tell me that I would not be able to compete again. Competition was my life. So I worked my tail off. I pushed myself to the limit every time. And finally, they gave me clearance to be able to pole vault again. I was able to go to nationals and become an All When we asked Matthew why he thinks miracles take place this was his response From what I was told of the whole search and rescue of everything they did there, I was the only person that they had found alive. They say, you know, this is always just a death mission. We go and try to find a body so that way we can just drag it out. And for me to not have any ill repercussions at this moment anymore is beyond miraculous. Miracles do happen. How I landed, how everything happened, how it transposed, I don't know. I just know that I fell. But beyond that, I don't know how it happened. Nor will I ever try to make an assumption of how it happened. Through God's mercy, I am alive and safe. miracles bring us to Christ. I did have to go through some troubling and hard times, but that's what it's for. That's what miracles happen is to be able to increase people's faith and help them see that there is a plan and there is a way to find happiness in this life amidst all the pains and troubles and sorrows. Wow. How on earth did Matt survive falling 230 feet? I know. It's crazy. I mean, I know the answer is God, but it's still 230 feet. So it just, it blows my mind. It's crazy. I mean, like you say, obviously this is God showing his power and showing his love. Clearly this touched Matt's life. It touched Chris. And they witnessed a miracle. But the cool thing is all of Australia got to witness this miracle. It was on 60 Minutes Australia. It was all over the news. And he was known as like the miracle man of Bundanoo. But we've actually were able to track down one of those news clips. And so here is a news reporter reporting on it that very day. The miracle of Bundaneu, the survival of an American tourist who fell more than 90 metres off a cliff in the southern highlands. Matthew Wyrick's parents were about to start making funeral arrangements when they learned by the internet that he'd been found alive against all the odds. Matt Wyrick emerges from the trees that almost certainly saved his life. The 21-year-old Mormon missionary fell 90 metres into a valley known as the Grand Canyon at Bundaneu. He slipped after offering to retrieve a friend's shoe from a clifftop yesterday afternoon. Rescuers abseiled down the same cliff face early this morning. No one was expecting to find him alive, including Matt's mother and father in Texas. Shortly after nine o'clock this morning, he was bound with a fractured skull, semi-conscious. He suffers fairly extensive injuries. Initial indications are that he's in a critical condition. experienced rescuers are dumbfounded. They say the odds of living after falling 90 metres are impossible to calculate. There are no doubt he owes his overnight survival to the cushioning effect of the thick canopy on the valley floor and unusually warm weather in the southern high for us. After this landing, his father says miracle is not too strong a word. We're very happy that he is alive and that he survived and that Heavenly Father protected him on this journey down that hill. He's now stable in Wollongong Hospital. Adam Mulhove's National Nine News. Isn't that so fascinating to hear this news report from 2004? And they're all calling it a miracle as well. So cool. And so much had to happen for this miracle to take place. Yeah. Like the temperatures, like every night that week, it had gotten down to freezing temperatures except for that one night. I know the temperature had to be perfect. And then it kept his brain from swelling. One thing I'm so curious about is like what happened that night thinking about him. They said he crawled 30 feet. Like he had to have been conscious at some point. And whether he intended to or not, the fact that he laid with his head below his feet, which kept the blood flow to his brain. Yeah. Just so many little things. Yeah. And one of those little things that I thought about was the cell phone. The police, when they got there, said there was no cell coverage in the area. Like none. They were amazed that the missionaries were able to somehow call out and get help. So just so many little ways that you can see God's help in this situation. Yeah, absolutely. And the fact that he was able to go be a college athlete after falling 230 feet, just the whole thing is pretty astounding. Yeah, it really is. And we want to end with one more news clip of Matthew's parents just thanking the amazing rescue workers who helped to save his life. I don't think words can describe what we, what our feelings, hearts, what we teach in every one of you. We just want to thank you for the bottom of our hearts and our family's hearts. What a miracle this actually was. And for you guys, words get on it. It's crazy. How much we really appreciate all of you. Well, thank you everyone for joining us today. Thank you, Matt and Chris. And we appreciate each and every one of you. We appreciate your support and your encouragement. And we've got some amazing, awesome stories coming up. So we're looking forward to those. Stay tuned. And if you know anyone who could use a little encouragement in their life, if you want to remind someone that God lives and that miracles are still real, please share this podcast with them. And we'll see you next time. Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle to share, contact us at themiraclefiles.com or find us on social media. We release new episodes each Monday. Yeah, so don't forget Miracle Mondays. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well. Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles. And don't forget to look for His light in your own lives.
