Teacher Hiking In Eaton Canyon Stabbed In Back With Pencil After Fall

A teacher leading a group of students to the Eaton Canyon waterfall had to be airlifted after she was stabbed less than an inch from her spine by a pencil.

The 35-year-old woman was one of two teachers leading a group of students on a trail above Altadena on Monday afternoon when she slipped and landed on her back. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies told ABC 7 that a pencil in her backpack stabbed her about 3 inches deep and only a half-inch away from her spine.

The sheriff's department's Altadena Mountain Rescue Team—a volunteer force—was called out to the area around 12:20 p.m. to bring the woman to safety, reports the L.A. Times. She was later airlifted to a local hospital by a sheriff's department helicopter.