Current:Home > InvestKansas doctor dies while saving his daughter from drowning on rafting trip in Colorado-LoTradeCoin
Kansas doctor dies while saving his daughter from drowning on rafting trip in Colorado
View Date:2024-12-23 22:54:44
A Kansas doctor saved his daughter when she became trapped by their overturned raft in a rushing Colorado river, but was unable to save himself.
Dustin Harker, 47, a neurologist from Hutchinson, was on a whitewater rafting trip Friday with friends from church and four of his 13 children when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.
The family had rafted the same river in previous years but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, said Harker's sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young.
He had three of his children (17-tear-old Matthieu, 15-year-old Ayden, and 13-year-old Camille) in the raft with he and other members of their party, CBS Colorado reported. His 18-year-old daughter Clara was in another raft.
The raft capsized in a series of rapids, Young said.
"Camille was trapped under the raft and Dustin was able to flip it over and get it off of her," Young told CBS News Colorado. "He was also able to get them both back on to the raft."
Everyone struggled to get to shore, Young added, but made it.
"Unfortunately, by then Dustin had already taken on too much water," Young said. "He was still speaking but shortly after became unresponsive."
He died despite CPR efforts.
Her brother-in-law told CBS Colorado that Harker did not die from drowning. A recently completed autopsy determined Harker died from two cerebral hematomas.
"They suspect his head crashed against some rocks in the river when he was thrown from the boat," Young stated. "The brain trauma is what took his life."
Cheryl Gonsalves, marketing manager for Hutchinson Clinic, said Harker cared deeply about his patients.
"He was absolutely revered here," she said.
A GoFundMe page set up for Harker has raised more than $33,000.
- In:
- Colorado
- Kansas
veryGood! (6837)
Related
- NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison dies at 86
- Bear that injured 5 during rampage shot dead, Slovakia officials say — but critics say the wrong bear was killed
- 4th person charged in ambush that helped Idaho prison inmate escape from Boise hospital
- Mother says she wants justice after teen son is killed during police chase in Mississippi
- ‘I got my life back.’ Veterans with PTSD making progress thanks to service dog program
- 4 things we learned on MLB Opening Day: Mike Trout, Angels' misery will continue
- Chicago-area doctor sexually abused more than 300 patients and hospitals ignored it, lawsuit claims
- Love Lives of Selling Sunset: Where Chelsea Lazkani, Christine Quinn & More Stand
- Black, red or dead: How Omaha became a hub for black squirrel scholarship
- Singer Sierra Ferrell talks roving past and remarkable rise
Ranking
- Younghoo Koo takes blame for Falcons loss to Saints: 'This game is fully on me'
- Diddy's houses were raided by law enforcement: What does this mean for the music mogul?
- Messi injury update: Out for NYCFC match. Will Inter Miami star be ready for Monterrey?
- Women’s March Madness highlights: Texas' suffocating defense overwhelms Gonzaga
- 1 dead, 2 children injured in wrong-way crash; driver suspected of DWI: Reports
- Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo rips her forced timeout to remove nose ring
- 2 police officers shot in Nevada city. SWAT team surrounds home where suspect reportedly holed up
- Maine governor proposes budget revisions to fund housing and child care before April adjournment
Recommendation
-
Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
-
2 Vermont troopers referred to court diversion after charges of reckless endangerment
-
Children race to collect marshmallows dropped from a helicopter at a Detroit-area park
-
EPA's new auto emissions rules boost electric vehicles and hybrids
-
Mike Tyson employs two trainers who 'work like a dream team' as Jake Paul fight nears
-
50 years after the former Yugoslavia protected abortion rights, that legacy is under threat
-
Men’s March Madness live updates: Sweet 16 predictions, NCAA bracket update, how to watch
-
Brittney Griner re-signs with the Phoenix Mercury, will return for 11th season in WNBA