Newlywed's Honeymoon Cut Short After Husband Falls Into Dormant Volcano

An Indiana man fell into a dormant volcano while hiking with his wife during their honeymoon in St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Clay Chastain was attempting to climb into the crater of Mount Liamuiga, the tallest peak on the island, when the ropes he was using to make his way down snapped.

"We had already reached the top and since it was a dormant volcano the crater of it was a lush prarie," Clay wrote on Facebook. "There was a rope trail leading down to it and I trusted the ropes with my weight too much and one of them snapped. "

He fell down the steep cliff, tumbling between 50-70 feet before he came to a stop. He wife, Acaimie, rushed after him and helped him to his feet. He suffered a fractured skull but they were all alone and had to hike another two miles until they could get cell phone service to call for help.

“He kept saying, ‘My head hurts, my head hurts.’ And I said, ‘I know you hit your head really hard, but we’re going to be OK,'" Acaimie told WISH-TV. "God’s going to take care of us, and God’s going to protect us and we’re going to get out of here. But you have to help me and you have to stay awake, because I can’t carry you out of here all by myself."

After nearly three hours, paramedics finally met the couple and rushed Clay to the hospital.

Clay suffered a fractured skull, cracked vertebrae, and a concussion in the fall. He is unable to fly commercially due to his injuries and is recovering in a hospital in St. Kitts. He says his wife is trying to organize a low-altitude aircraft to fly them back to the United States.

The newlyweds raised over $35,000 on GoFundMe to cover the cost of the flight home and his medical care.

"We're just overwhelmed," Acaimie said. "It's never something that you think would ever happen to you. You read stories about crazy situations that happen to people and say, 'That would never happen to me.' Now that it has. It's crazy to be the recipient of such love and support."