Window Washer Survives 6-story Fall

Window washer survives 6-story fall from Eau Claire bank/MILWAUKEE: A window washer survived a six-story fall from an Eau Claire bank building with one thought in mind - when was his safety rope going to catch? It never did. "I kept falling," 21-year-old Alex Clay said in a phone interview from Luther Hospital in Eau Claire Tuesday night. "It all happened so fast. I kept waiting. When's it going to catch? "There's a little roof over the entryway. I bounced off of that and then hit the pavement."

Authorities in Eau Claire, located in west central Wisconsin about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, St. Paul, said equipment apparently helped break the man's fall from the U.S. Bank building just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. But Clay said it didn't slow him down much. Still, he said doctors determined his main injury was a shattered bone on the arch side of his left foot. He said he also had six staples in his leg because he cut it on something as he fell. "I remember the entire fall all the way down," he said. He said the problem developed when he noticed a clip on his gear for rappelling wasn't fastened. "But I was trying not to panic because I had my safety line connected on the back of my harness," he said. A maintenance man and his co-worker tried to pull him back up, but he was too sweaty and tired to make it, he said. "I was hanging on for dear life at that time, even though I had the safety line on." That's when he let go.
Clay said police took the equipment he was using to inspect it. He said he had worked for Bob Smith Window Cleaning about four months. He doesn't plan on working on high buildings again, at least not for a long time. His mother, Susan Frederick, said she'll object if he tries. "It's just so amazing - and then to find out that he's going to be OK is just so fantastic," she said from the hospital. She said they wouldn't know until Wednesday when he will be released.

Name of window washer who fell six stories released: A 21-year-old window washer fell six stories Tuesday afternoon while working at U.S. Bank at 131 Barstow St., landing on the sidewalk. Authorities were notified of the fall at 3:13 p.m. Alexander Clay was transported to Luther Hospital. His equipment apparently helped break his fall, and his injuries were not believed to be life threatening, authorities said. Clay works for Bob Smith Window Cleaning. The Eau Claire Police Department is investigating the incident.