Features

Meditating Man Falls From Tree

Tuesday June 24, 2003

Spiritual enlightenment can hurt sometimes. A man meditating in a tree in the Berkeley hills learned this the hard way Sunday, June 22, when he fell 30 feet to the ground, then tumbled 50 feet down a steep ravine, said Chief Mike Migliore of the Berkeley Fire Department. 

"This is a first for me,'' Migliore said. 

Around 2 a.m., Ben Mann, 18, fell from a tree he had perched in to meditate, said Migliore. Mann had been in the tree since about 10 p.m. Saturday. 

An early-morning hiker heard Mann calling for help around 2:30 a.m. and called 911. Rescuers arrived on scene near 100 Stonewall Dr. at 2:45 a.m. and, using a rope and rescue basket, were able to remove Mann two hours later, Migliore said. 

According to Migliore, paramedics took Mann to Highland Hospital, where he was treated for minor leg and back injuries and a possible head injury. 

Migliore said that Mann told rescuers he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the incident occurred. 

 

—Bay City News