Boy, 6, in critical condition after falling rock hits him

INDEX — A 6-year-old boy was hit by a rock Sunday at a popular climbing spot near Index and is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

It was just after 5 p.m. when a climber at a lower part of the Index Town Wall, just north of the Skykomish River, kicked a rock loose, Snohomish County Fire District 26 Chief Eric Andrews said. The rock fell and hit Henry “Hank” Purchase below.

Purchase was flown by helicopter to Seattle, where he was in critical condition Monday, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

A GoFundMe, established Monday by the family to cover medical expenses, had raised over $10,000 from more than 125 donors within six hours. The family also created an online journal where they plan to write updates about Purchase’s condition. They wrote Monday that a CT scan showed no additional bleeding and that Purchase’s increased intracranial pressure from the injury was being managed.