Doctor and father of 13 dies after saving daughter in rafting accident

A Kansas doctor and father of 13 died after he heroically saved his teen daughter in a whitewater rafting accident in Colorado.

Dr. Dustin Harker, a neurologist at the Hutchinson Clinic, went rafting with some of his children and a group of friends on June 9 when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area of the Arkansas River.

The family had rafted the same river previously, but the rapids were more violent than usual due to heavy rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law Sharon Neu Young told the Hutchinson News.

“During their ride down the river, the raft with Dustin and three of his children tragically capsized. Everyone struggled to get above water. In the tumult, Dustin threw the capsized raft off his youngest daughter who was trapped underneath,” she told the outlet in an email.

Everyone made it to shore, but Harker was injured.

Autopsy results showed he had suffered two cerebral hematomas, CBS Colorado reported.

“They suspect his head crashed against some rocks in the river when he was thrown from the raft,” Young said, according to the outlet. “The brain trauma is what took his life.”

She said Harker was still speaking after emerging from the river but became unresponsive a short time later. The rafting group leaders administered CPR for 30 minutes in a desperate effort to resuscitate him.

“The family is so grateful that all of the children have made it home and for Dustin who made sure that happened,” Young told the Hutchinson News. “This turn of events has been traumatic for everyone involved – especially for those who witnessed the tragedy unfold.”

One of the people who tried to save Harker was Yvette Ramos, a nurse from Aurora, Colorado, who rushed to the scene after getting off the Royal Gorge Train when she heard calls for medical assistance.

“They were to pick up a man who fell off his raft. We thought maybe he cut his foot on rebar or something,” Ramos told CBS Colorado, but it quickly became evident the injury was more serious so she jumped into action and helped with CPR.

“Me, another gentleman and a nurse, the three of us tried to resuscitate him,” Ramos said. “We didn’t know how long he’d been underwater for. We continued CPR for 35 minutes. Then firefighters came to continue CPR and I was still giving rescue breaths. But we couldn’t bring him back.”

The nurse said she has been unable to shake the experience.

“He’s the first person I’ve ever lost. It’s torn me up,” Ramos said. “We continued CPR for so long because we really thought we could save him. I saw the wedding ring on his finger and I knew he was someone’s husband, someone’s father.”

To the family, she said, “I just wanted you to know we really tried.”

Young said Harker was the family’s breadwinner as his wife, Emilie, home-schooled their brood.

“He was providing the health insurance,” Young told KRDO. “So that’s probably like the first thing that hit her is, ‘You know, we have all the immediate needs. We’ve got all these appointments and things coming up’ and she’s not going to have that anymore.”

Young has launched a GoFundMe page to help the family.

“Dustin and Emilie have 13 children and there are a lot of things still being sorted out regarding the funeral and next steps for my sister and her family,” she wrote in the account, which had raised almost $35,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Harker’s co-workers at the Hutchinson Clinic, where he worked since last year, mourned the loss.

“He cared deeply about his patients and regularly shared his sentiment with those around him,” the clinic’s marketing manager Cheryl Gonsalves told the Hutchinson News.

“He was just a wonderful friend and colleague to all of our staff,” she said. “He built amazing relationships with everyone here, and we are dealing with his loss deeply. He was absolutely revered here. We’re keeping his family.”

After graduating from Brigham Young University, Harker received his medical degree from the Medical University of Ohio in Toledo, He was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
 
“My philosophy is to always put the patient first,” Harker said on his clinic’s website. “Neurological disease and disorders are very complex, and I like to explain things to my patients to help them be actively involved in their care plan.”