5 Days After Wedding, He Fell In a Volcano

Clay and Acaimie Chastain had hoped for a relaxing honeymoon in St. Kitts—but that was before the groom fell into a volcano. Five days after their July 13 wedding, the Indiana couple were hiking on Mount Liamuiga when Clay decided to descend a path into the dormant volcano to look at some greenery. "One second I'm climbing, the next second the world is spinning and I can hear [Acaimie] calling down to me," the 23-year-old tells the Indianapolis Star. Clay, who suspects a climbing rope gave way, fell an estimated 50 feet. Acaimie, who went after her husband when he didn't answer her screams, found him next to bloody vomit. She helped him hike out of the volcano and another two miles; she managed to get cell service and call for help about a mile into the journey.

"It was a miracle that he was able to support himself for as long as he did," Acaimie says. At a hospital, Clay was found to have a skull fracture, concussion, and cracked vertebrae. He also had air in his brain tissue which made it impossible for him to immediately take a commercial flight back to the US. Clay was scheduled to be moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday on a medical flight, to be paid for with $36,000 raised on GoFundMe. "It's been absolutely incredible the amount of love and support we've received from complete strangers," Acaimie says. Clay, meanwhile, shares a tip via WRTV. "If you are going to do anything like this, don't do it alone," he says. "I don't know if I would have made it out completely in one piece without my wife." (This man fell 800 feet into a volcano, then stood up.)