An Ober Mountain employee sustained injuries after a harrowing plunge down the side of the mountain coaster he was working on in Gatlinburg on Wednesday, officials reported. In an incident occurring just after noon, the unsuspecting worker, aged 25, took a 20-foot tumble down the hill, according to WATE News.

The unnamed man remained conscious following his fall and managed to alert his co-workers of the accident while experiencing neck and back pain and suffering a head laceration; the Gatlinburg Fire Department was alerted and responded to the scene at approximately 12:18 p.m. Ober Mountain personnel swiftly evacuated the injured party from the precarious hillside and facilitated his transfer to local EMS crews, who subsequently rushed him to UT Medical Center in Knoxville, as indicated by a release from the City of Gatlinburg, reported by WBIR News.

Details of the employee's current state are not known however, Seth Butler, the director of operations and communications for the city of Gatlinburg, explained that the employee, who had been enduring a medical emergency, fell approximately 20 to 25 feet, the WVLT News highlighted in their report.

Efforts to reach Ober Mountain for an official statement have so far gone unanswered, and it remains unclear what led to the incident or if any further investigation will be conducted into the safety conditions of the mountain coaster attraction; the story is still developing. Meanwhile, the injured man, whose prompt call to his colleagues may have hastened his rescue, awaits further treatment at UT Medical Center, his resilience in the face of a fall off a coaster on a workday painting a grim picture of the perils some workers encounter in the line of duty.