Hiker falls 70 feet at Washington waterfall

QUINAULT, Wash. -- A hiker fell more than 70 feet down a waterfall and survived.

Thirty-year-old Josh Richert and his wife were celebrating their third anniversary by hiking in Olympic National Park in Washington last week when he slipped on a rock.

He somehow was able to stay above water after the fall, and then swim to the side of the river.

It took over nine hours before first responders finally found him and pulled him to safety.

"That's when I started to get really scared and then I thought, 'Now it is time to really survive because this is getting real,' " Richert said.

Richert says surviving the plunge down Sol Duc Falls is nothing short of a miracle.

The fall shattered both of Richert's feet.

He is back home with casts on his legs, but he says it could have been much worse.