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SALT LAKE CITY — A tragic accident in Moab earlier this month claimed the life of a young man. Adam Weber, 32, fell nearly 200 feet while rappelling, as his fiancée and friends watched.
Fellow climber Ryan Stallings was one of those with Weber in the moments before he died. While the accident is still very fresh in Stallings' mind, he remembered his friend Friday by sharing his story of bravery even in the face of death.
"He didn't seem afraid to die," Stallings said. "He must have been such a great man that he had nothing to regret, no reason to fear death. He know God's plan for him."
According to Stallings, Weber was one in a million — an adventurous young man who was engaged to his soul mate, Stacee.
On May 5, Weber, Stacee and a group of friends, Stallings, were rope swinging and rappelling down Day Canyon near Moab. Eleven people in the group had successfully completed the swing and rappel, and then came Weber and Stacee's turn.
The two decided to ride tandem, and Stallings, a firefighter, got them ready and triple checked the ropes.
"I walked him through it three times, and he repeated back to me three times," Stallings said. "He rappels; he came into this very experienced."
It was after the couple completed the swing that things went horribly wrong.
"He somehow disconnected himself from both of his points of attachment," Stallings said. "He just made a simple mistake and he realized it, that he made that mistake, right when he made it. But at that point it was too late."
Weber fell nearly 200 feet. Stacee was still attached to the rope; she and their friends watched in horror as he fell.
"Just all of a sudden I saw him falling, and I just started screaming," Stallings said.
Stallings rescued Stacee, and the two rushed as fast as he could to Adam, who by that time had regained consciousness. He was even joking around at times, Stalling said, but he would not make it out alive.
By the time emergency personnel arrived, Adam had died.
"He was able to see his fiancée safely to the ground; and for them to be able to tell each other that they loved each other, and be with each other in a time of extreme terror, that sticks out with me a lot," Stallings said.
Weber's friends are holding a car wash in his honor on Saturday, June 1. It will take place at the Layton Lowe's Home Improvement Store, 1055 West Antelope Drive, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The proceeds will help pay for his funeral expenses and medical bills. Friends also plan to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Moab County Sheriff's search and rescue team.
