An adventure trip has gone awry for the family of a 62-year old man from Ohio who has died while hiking out of the Grand Canyon post a commercial river trip.
The Ohio man, whose identity has not been released by the authorities till his family is notified, was given CPR by bystanders on Sunday, June 29, morning but to no avail.
"At approximately 11:30 am the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a call reporting CPR in progress just above Three-Mile Rest House on the Bright Angel Trail. Bystanders initiated CPR and National Park Service personnel responded from up trail and assisted with resuscitation efforts," said National Park Service in a statement.
The National Park Service personnel responded to the emergency immediately and even managed to divert their helicopter from another call at Indian Gardens to Three-Mile Rest House to assist the efforts to revive the victim. However, all attempts to revive the Ohio man failed.
The current incident comes close on the heels of the death of Victor Tseng of Phoenix, a 68-year-old man from Phoenix, Arizona. Tseng fell from a ledge into the Colorado River on Friday, June 27, during a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon National Park. The National Park Service team carried of search operations over the air and boat over the weekend, but did not find Tseng.
The Grand Canyon sees nearly 4.5 million visitors every year. The number of deaths at the popular destination for tourists is currently above the national average of 12. Since January 1 this year, 18 people have died at the park per authorities. Of these, three people died during commercial river trips, one in a car accident, two fell over the rim and plenty of others because of medical reasons or natural causes. This number, however, is inclusive of both visitors and residents of the Grand Canyon Village.
The National Park Service, in coordination with the Coconino Medical Examiner, is conducting an investigation into the incident. However, the exact cause of the 62-year-old's death is not known at this juncture.
