Teen Urban Explorer Survives Fatal Fall From Minneapolis Grain Elevator

An eighteen-year-old urban explorer is fighting for his life after a fatal fall from an abandoned grain elevator in Minneapolis. His name is Lilly Maria 'Ash' Ronallo-Korbel, though he uses male pronouns and goes by Ash. Police say the incident happened Monday around 8:30 pm at a site known as the Checkerboard Grain Elevator. Several people trespassed inside that disused property before Ash fell about twenty stories to the ground. He landed on a beam outside the structure instead of hitting the hard earth below.

Minneapolis firefighters rushed in with truck ladders to pull him from the rubble. They provided immediate medical care at the scene before transporting him to a local hospital. The injuries were life-threatening, officials confirmed during the initial response. Sgt. Garrett Parten called it a bad decision made by someone seeking adventure. He told reporters this was an individual just having fun who ended up with critical wounds. It is miraculous that the teen survived the impact.

Ash's heart stopped for about twenty minutes inside the hospital emergency room. His mother, Nicole Emery, shared a heartbreaking update on Tuesday regarding his condition. She said her child received between six and eight units of blood during an exploratory surgery. That procedure left him with a massive incision running from his chest down to his pelvis. Since moving into the ICU, medical staff have given him six more units of blood. He remains on life support as doctors struggle to stabilize him.

Nicole Emery posted a raw message on Caringbridge describing her pain and fear for her son. She said she is shattered by what happened and calls it her worst nightmare. Her words were filled with the terror of losing her beautiful child to unnecessary pain. She asked only that people pray because she believes in the power of prayer. Nicole also stated firmly that this tragedy is in God's will, not hers.

Nicole Emery is praying that her son Ash is free from pain. She shared a heartbreaking update on Wednesday stating he is no longer being sedated, though doctors have significantly cut his medication dosage. Despite this reduction, Ash has not responded to commands or touch and remains on a large amount of fentanyl. The situation grew critical when his heart stopped for about 20 minutes at the hospital on Tuesday.

Ash had just graduated high school before everything changed. He was looking forward to the next chapter of life. Now he is fighting for his life after multiple surgeries, including pins placed in each leg and a procedure that drilled external braces into them. Doctors also performed surgery to clean out pooling blood in his abdomen. His mother explained they kept the area open with a barrier on top to avoid reopening him again. A feeding tube has been inserted as well. He suffered a broken collarbone and dislocated parts of his shoulder.

Ash often explored abandoned, rundown buildings, according to his social media pages. One video posted on July 6 showed him recording a tall building from the street before panning to a shot of him sitting on top of it. Throughout the clip he stood on the very edge of the roof without any safety harness or equipment. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money for Ash and his family.

Residents near the site have made numerous calls to police over the years due to an influx of people climbing the structure. Vox Payne, a local neighbor, told CBS News that something terrible happened in the elevator. It was an issue they knew would happen. We talked about it plenty with the city and other neighbors and kept warning them something terrible is going to happen, Payne said. When he heard those screams, the first thought was teenagers up there doing something bad.

There were about 80 incidents involving urban exploring in the police department's first and second precincts last year, according to officer Parten. He described Ash as an individual seeking adventure who made a bad decision that resulted in life-changing injuries. While they are having fun, what they are doing is illegal and extremely dangerous, Parten said. In the past, people involved in such incidents have been charged with misdemeanor trespassing or felony damage to property. It remains unclear if Ash will face charges as the investigation into what happened continues.