Fatality at Timpanogos (Utah)

[Sharon Faulkner]

Man Falls Off Cliff While Trying to Rescue Girl
September 24th, 2006
Sam Penrod Reporting

A man died today while hiking in Utah County. A group of people were visiting Timpanogos cave when one of them fell hundreds of feet off a cliff.

The victim is a man visiting from Russia, who slipped in the rocks and fell off a 200-foot cliff while he was trying to rescue a three-year old girl.

A group of people were hiking down from Timpanogos Cave in American Fork Canyon late this afternoon, when a three-year old girl slipped off the trail and fell down about 75 feet into the shale rocks below. The girl's father first tried to rescue her, but couldn't and he came back up on the trail.

That's when the family friend from Russia tried to get down to the girl, but sadly he fell into an area that turned into a cliff.

Tara Lillemon, Witness: "He had said his daughter fell and we could hear her screaming in the canyon, so we knew she was breathing, her circulation is okay. Then he said a family friend went down after her and we couldn't see him and we couldn't hear him."

Lt. Darren Gilbert, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We believe he went off the hill, there was a conversation between him and another friend up on the mountain saying, ‘Be careful, watch your route,' and shortly thereafter he fell again and slipped down about 200 feet."

Rescue crews brought in the LifeFlight Hoist to lift the three-year old girl off the mountain. She suffered serious injuries from the fall and was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition.

As for the victim, authorities say it will be a difficult recovery of his body and believe it could take all night because of the very steep and rugged area where he fell.

One Search and Rescue team member was hurt when rocks fell on his leg. He is expected to be just fine.

www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=516050

[L Roebuck]

Crews Recover Body of Hiker
September 25th, 2006
Ashley Hayes Reporting

Search and rescue crews removed a man's body from American Fork Canyon overnight. He fell 200 feet yesterday while trying to save a little girl.

The girl is recovering at Primary Children's Hospital.

A family from Magna had just completed a tour of Timpanogos Cave and was on the exit trail. The three-year-old girl was walking down the trail and fell about 75 feet.

A family friend visiting from Russia went down the mountain in an attempt to reach the little girl. While doing so, he slipped farther and fell about 200 feet.

A medical helicopter was able to hoist the little girl out of American Fork Canyon. She was flown to Primary Children's, where her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. She is expected to make a full recovery.

Recovering the man's body was a difficult task. Falling rocks injured two crew members. They both had to be assisted out. It took several different attempts to get the body out.

Lt. Darren Gilbert, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We were hoping to hoist him off the mountain also. But due to the technical aspect and the area he was located in, Life Flight couldn't get in there."

Authorities say the three-year-old fell off the trail because she was looking inside a bag of potato chips and not watching where she was going.

Lt. Darren Gilbert, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We believe he went off the hill. There was conversation between him and another friend up on the mountain saying, 'Be careful. Watch your route.' Shortly thereafter he fell again and slipped down about 200 feet."

The man killed was 46 years old. The Sheriff's department is trying to contact the man's family and has not released his name.

The rescue effort jammed up traffic in American Fork Canyon yesterday. U-92 was closed part of the afternoon but is open now.

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[Sharon Faulkner]

An update on this story:

Girl Who Fell Off Trail Doing Well
September 25th, 2006 @ 10:00pm
Sam Penrod Reporting

Mickey Horak: "I just couldn't sit there and listen to the baby cry, I had to do something about it."

A man who helped rescue a three-year old girl who fell off of the trail at Mt. Timpanogos, shares what happened.

The girl was with her family when she slid down a steep area of the trail. A family friend from Russia who tried to rescue the girl died as he was trying to rescue her, when he fell off a 200 foot cliff.

We are hearing good news that the three-year old girl who fell from the trail yesterday is doing very well and should be released from the hospital in the next day or so. But it's still devastating for her family, who are mourning for the man who tried to save her.

It had been a relaxing afternoon for a family from Magna, hiking to Timpanogos Cave with friends from Russia and the Ukraine. The day turned tragic in a chain of events that began when the thre-year old girl accidentally fell off the trail.

The girl and her family had just left the cave and she and she was walking down the trail when she slipped off and slid down about 75 feet.

Kit Mullen, Supt., Timpanogos Cave Nat'l Monument: "She was simply walking in front of her mother and apparently not paying attention to where she was putting her feet, and stepped to one side and ended up stepping off of the trail in a very steep area."

First family members tried to reach the girl. Then a 46-year old family friend visiting from Russia tried to reach the girl who was crying. As he was going down the very rugged and steep area, he apparently lost his footing and fell off a ledge.

Not long after that, Mickey Horak was leaving the cave when he heard screaming. That's when he went down to help the girl.

Mickey Horak, Rescuer: "She was actually two feet from the edge when I got to her. She started moving and I grabbed hold of her and kept her from falling. She was just holding onto a stick when I found her."

He and a park ranger held onto the girl for a couple of hours, until the Lifeflight Hoist could rescue her. Horak calls the family friend who died trying to rescue the girl a hero and says he is just glad he could help at the right time.

Mickey Horak, Rescuer: "I don't feel like a hero, I just feel like I was in the right place at the right time, and thank God that I was there."

This was the first time someone has died from getting off the trail in the 84 year history of Timpanogos Cave. Park officials say because the trail is paved and well maintained, it is actually one of the safest mountain trails in the Intermountain west.

www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=517982

[Sharon Faulkner]

The Salt Lake Tribune has a follow up article on this story in today's issue.

Fatal fall tempered by 'miracle' rescue
By Jeremiah Stettler
October 1, 2006 The Salt Lake Tribune

Tragedy on Timpanogos: A girl, 3, survived her injuries, but unknown to her rescuers at the time, a friend died trying to help

MAGNA - Heels dug into the edge of a 50-foot cliff, Mickey Horak cradled a bleeding 3-year-old who had stumbled off the Timpanogos Cave trail and fallen about 75 feet. The child's cry hushed as she lay in her rescuer's arms along a precipice that already had claimed the life of a family friend, Vitaly Tsikoza, who had tried to save her.

Horak had scrambled down the mountainside moments before to reach Paulina Filippova, who had wandered off the Timpanogos trail late last Sunday and tumbled within two feet of the cliff's edge. The slope was deadly steep - a 60-degree incline in some places - and covered with loose rocks that toppled over the cliff like running water.

Yet Horak, a 26-year-old electrician from Texas who had just toured the cave, somehow reached the girl safely. She lay still, clutching a root. "Hey baby, you're OK," said Horak, bracing her with his hand as she slid slightly. "Don't move, baby, I'm here for you. I'm not going to let you go over."

The child had fallen near the top of the Timpanogos trail. It was no different there than anywhere else - a 6-foot-wide paved path winding down Mount Timpanogos. If anything, the grade was a little gentler where the girl fell, park officials say. Like the rest of the 1.5-mile trail, the path had no railing.

Paulina, a snow-blonde 3-year-old, had emerged from the Timpanogos caverns just minutes before. She paused briefly on the trail for a potato chip snack, then began the leisurely trek downward about two steps in front of her mom. Along the way, she toyed with the potato chip can, shaking it like a rattle to hear the crumbs bounce about. Just several hundred feet from the top, however, she took her eyes off the trail to peek inside that chip can.

In a moment forever etched in her mother's mind, Paulina veered off the path. Olga Filippova lunged after her, grabbing at the air but missing her jacket by less than an inch. Then she watched as her child disappeared over a cliff and tumbled about 75 feet. "I thought this was the end of it for her and, in a way, for me," her mother said. "I started thinking, 'How am I going to live after that?' ''

Marc Ellison, a seasonal park ranger, was about to take his last tour group of the day through Timpanogos Cave when he heard of Paulina's fall. Horak already had reached the girl, but just barely. The girl still was on the ground, but alive.

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