- A 4-year-old boy rescued from Big Cottonwood Canyon remains hospitalized.
- The family was found by search and rescue teams after a storm hit.
- The father, Micah Smith, suffers from frostbite.
BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON — The family of a 31-year-old man and his three young children, who were rescued in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend, says one boy remains in the hospital.
On Sunday, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team, working with a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter and a Life Flight helicopter crew, located a 31-year-old man, his sons, ages 4 and 2, and his 8-year-old daughter in the Twin Peaks area.
The sheriff's office said the missing hikers set off on their journey on Saturday and their vehicle was found in the Broads Fork parking lot after they were reported missing. The father was reported to be in fair condition, two of the children were in critical condition and the third child was stable, the sheriff's office said.
The father has now been identified by family members as Micah Smith. A GoFundMe* fundraiser was started by Smith's brother, Zach Smith.
"Micah and his kids were caught during a storm that hit this last weekend in the Wasatch mountains. The storm blew in as they were on the peak of Twin Peaks. Micah bravely sacrificed himself to protect his three kids on the mountain in freezing temperature and weather. Thankfully, search and rescue was able to find them early the next day. Micah is suffering from 3rd-degree frostbite and his kids have been hospitalized. His middle son, Ezra, is being kept alive by a heart and lung bypass machine right now," according to the GoFundMe post.
"Micah is a good dad who loves his kids and loves taking them on adventures. Unfortunately, tragedy struck this time around."
The summit of Broads Fork Twin Peaks is over 11,000 feet in elevation. The sheriff's office said Sunday that "this remains an active investigation," but has not released any additional details. It was not known Tuesday how the family was dressed during the hike, what supplies they had or exactly how long they had been on the mountain before being found.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited into the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
