Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Sam Penrod ReportingMickey 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.
