A beloved doctor tragically died while trying to save his young daughter from drowning during a family trip gone wrong.
Dr. Dustin Harker was a 47-year-old neurologist from Kansas who went rafting in Colorado with four of his children and some friends from the church on June 9.
During their whitewater rafting adventure on the Arkansas River in Cannon City, Harker’s raft ran into a series of rapids that overturned the vessel causing his children to plunge into the water.
At this moment, the neurologist realized that his 13-year-old daughter Camille was still trapped underneath the raft. Determined to save his children, Harker flipped over the raft and helped his kids to safety.
In the process, however, he suffered significant brain trauma likely from bumping his head against the rocks.
“They suspect his head crashed against some rocks in the river when he was thrown from the boat. The brain trauma is what took his life,” Sharon Neu Young, the man’s sister-in-law, said.
Young also claimed that the family previously rafted in the Sunshine Falls area without a problem while adding that the water this time was more turbulent due to heavy rainfall.
“He left this side of the veil doing what he loves – road trips and adventure. It was a high adventure rafting trip,” Harker’s grieving wife, Emilie, said in a tribute to her husband.
“Right up his alley. The raft flipped. Everyone else made it out, and I bet he had something to do with that.”
Paying tribute to the late doctor was also Hutchinson Clinic which Harker joined in 2022.
“Dr. Harker joined the Hutchinson Clinic family in early 2022 and has built meaningful relationships with his patients and our community over the last year and a half,” they said in a statement.
“He cared deeply about his patients and regularly shared this sentiment with those around him.”
Dustin is survived by wife of 25 years, Emilie, and their 13 children. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this challenging time.