Teenage boy loses arm, gets leg stuck beneath rock

(FOX 11/CNS) - A 15-year-old boy walking on ocean-side rocks was pinned by a falling boulder, and lost part of his right arm at Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach.

The boy was trapped at around 3:30 p.m., with both his arm and part of his leg stuck under a large rock.

"This patient and one his buddies was walking along the rocky beach and a boulder the size of a cooler somehow rolled onto him," said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito.

Orange County firefighters ran to the boy with inflatable air bags, usually used to wrench apart crushed cars to free crash victims. The heavy duty airbags, plus brute force, moved the boulder.

But the teen lost at least part of his right arm, according to Bommarito.

The teen was freed shortly after 4 p.m. and he was flown by helicopter to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

He was described by firefighters as in serious medical condition.