A 29-year-old Google software program engineer was killed in a freak accident at Yosemite Nationwide Park this month when a department from a large sequoia tree fell and struck her on the top.
Angela Lin, who labored as a software program engineer for about six years at Salesforce after which Google, was climbing on July 19 together with her boyfriend and two buddies on a path that wound by the Tuolumne Grove of towering sequoias.
Instantly a big crack sounded from above – and two seconds later, a number of branches from one of many famously large timber got here tumbling down, in line with Lin’s boyfriend, David Hua.
“One big branch struck Angela, and then there were a bunch of smaller ones directly behind me,” Hua instructed SFGate.
Because the branches fell, Hua stated he closed his eyes – and by the point he opened them, Lin was sprawled face up on the bottom with blood pooling round her head.
Hua stated he known as 911 and carried out CPR till a park ranger arrived and took over.
An ambulance finally made it to the scene, however Lin was by no means positioned inside.
Emergency personnel later stated that the falling department had seemingly killed his girlfriend immediately, Hua stated.
“It was just unimaginable that something like this could occur,” Hua stated over the telephone with a shaky voice, in line with SFGate.
“On such a popular trail, too.”
Tuolumne Grove, the realm the place Lin and her group had been climbing, was closed to guests for a few week after her demise.
Yosemite public affairs officer Scott Gediman instructed SFGate the incident continues to be below investigation.
Park officers didn’t instantly reply to The Submit’s request for remark.
Hua stated Lin’s family members haven’t been in a position to be taught extra from the park service, and the irritating expertise has pushed them to go to the media.
“We are seeking more information from the park service regarding this incident, especially around trail safety, maintenance and awareness of problematic trees on popular trails, and future prevention of similar incidents,” Hua stated.
Traumatized bystanders have additionally been frantically looking for info on Lin, with one particular person making a Reddit put up titled “Tuolumne Grove Incident 7/19” in hopes of discovering out whether or not Lin survived.
“I am a tourist, but was on the scene of an extremely tragic freak accident in the area trying to provide [aid], and it has been haunting me. I can’t stop thinking about it and can’t find any news articles updating about the situation,” the consumer wrote in a put up on the Reddit thread.
“It hits so so hard because they were doing nothing wrong or careless… Life can be so cruel.”
Although uncommon, Yosemite has seen a number of tragic, deadly accidents over time.
Final summer time, faculty pupil Grace Rohloff slipped and fell 200 ft to her demise from the Half Dome cables throughout a storm – simply after telling her father: “Dad, my shoes are so slippery.”
Australian hiker Harry Partington, 22, was crushed and killed by a falling tree in October final yr on the park’s 4 Mile path, which connects Yosemite Valley and Glacier Level.
In August 2015, two highschool college students asleep in a tent have been killed by a falling oak tree limb.
Each morning, the NY POSTcast presents a deep dive into the headlines with the Submit’s signature mixture of politics, enterprise, popular culture, true crime and all the pieces in between. Subscribe right here!
A concessions employee in 2012 died when a tree fell on his tent throughout a windstorm.
Lin’s demise was significantly weird, as she wasn’t camped below a tree and there was no wind on the day she died, in line with Hua.
“The sad thing is that Angela is the most cautious person you can be,” Hua stated.
“She is super careful. She stays on trails. She never goes off trails. So, usually when you hear about these incidents, someone is doing something dangerous, like playing in water or near a cliff or something.”
Hua, who had been shut with Lin since they attended faculty collectively at UC Berkeley, known as her demise a “devastating loss.”
Ian Cook dinner, who met Lin of their dorm constructing at UC Berkeley, stated Lin was a quick pal.
“Angela was obviously whip-smart, but she led with a simple and playful attitude. That mix of confidence and humility put folks around her at ease,” Cook dinner instructed SFGate.
Analysis scientist Richard Zhang was in Lin’s undergraduate lab, and stated she stayed “through the late nights before the paper deadline” and “thoughtfully [treated] us to chocolate to keep our spirits up.”
After graduating together with her grasp’s diploma from College of Texas at Austin, Lin labored within the Bay Space as an engineer at Google.
“We lost a loved and respected member of our team. We’re very saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts are with their family and loved ones,” a Google spokesperson instructed The Submit.
