PHOENIX — It was supposed to be a ride down a road two best friends hadn't driven before past Tortilla Flat on State Route 88. It ended up being a trip down a 300-foot cliff, according to firefighters.
Both Braden Faulk in the driver's seat of a sedan and Joe Napoli-Morales in the passenger seat lived to share their story.
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Faulk and Napoli-Morales were driving Monday night after stopping in Tortilla Flat and taking pictures of Faulk's car. The friends say they then continued down the road.
"The last I remember, like, we were just kind of cruising, like taking it easy," Napoli-Morales said.
"There was an animal in my in my lane, kind of run in the same direction I was driving. And so I was like, well, we're not going super fast, so slow down a little bit. Try to go around it. And my side of the car caught, caught something," Faulk said.
That something, Faulk said, sent them off the side.
"The fall felt forever, just because it was like that free fall at first and that was just like almost like a really bad roller coaster," Napoli-Morales said.
In a post about crews' response to the scene, Superstition Firefighters said the pair went over a 300-foot cliff.
"We kind of looked at each other, we were both just like, 'Bro, like, are you okay?'," Faulk said.
Faulk said the pair got out of the car and he was able to get back up to the top and Napoli-Morales stayed at the bottom due to his injuries.
Several crews responded to the scene to help with the incident, including crews repelling down to Napoli-Morales. Eventually, a Department of Public Safety helicopter came in to hoist Napoli-Morales out before he was taken to the hospital by an ambulance.
"I can't thank them enough. Like they, every single one of them was absolutely amazing," Napoli-Morales said.
Faulk said he had no injuries, but Napoli-Morales says he's recovering from a broken collarbone, shoulder blade and a torn ligament in his knee.
"I'm here because of a seat belt and because of a Subaru and because of whatever Guardian Angels we have looking above us," Napoli-Morales said. "So I have to find a new one now because I think I killed my last one."
Napoli-Morales said the pair is finding humor, recognizing how lucky they both are to have survived the fall.
"Absolute miracle," Napoli-Morales said. "Even that's an understatement."
The pair have a GoFundMe to help with hospital expenses and other bills.