Tourist's kin asks if death had to happen
Relatives of a Chinese tourist who was killed Thursday hiking in New Hampshire's White Mountains in what authorities called a rare accident are questioning whether better warnings about the dangers of the trail, or a quicker medical response, could have prevented the death.
Shu Qin, a 28-year-old on vacation from Shanghai, was hiking on the Falling Waters Trail in Franconia when a boulder split from a ledge and came crashing 40 feet onto her.
She was still conscious in her husband's arms as family members sought medical help in the isolation of the wilderness after the 2:30 p.m. incident.
"She was begging him, in Chinese, 'My husband, my husband, help me, help me,' " Jeff A. Gruneich, a brother-in-law from Wellesley who was with Qin when the boulder fell, said yesterday.
Gruneich questioned whether more could have been done to save Qin, considering she was still conscious and talking before she was pronounced dead about three hours after the accident. He wonders whether the use of a medical helicopter could have quickened the response time. He also lamented poor cellphone reception in the area, and said a landline at the head of the trail might have helped the family alert authorities sooner.
At the least, Gruneich said, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department could have done more to warn of the dangers of the trail, particularly at the ledge where the boulder broke off, by posting warning signs or marking areas of the ledge with paint where rock-slide dangers exist.
"It is hard to reconcile, because she sat on the trail for two hours, begging for us to save her," Gruneich said in an interview by phone.
New Hampshire officials expressed sympathy for the family, but called it a rare accident.
"This was . . . a most unlikely thing to happen," Lieutenant Todd Bogardus, search and rescue team leader for the Fish and Game Department, said in a press release Thursday.
Bogardus could not be reached yesterday to address Gruneich's concerns, but Franconia police Patrol Officer Chris Fowler said such accidents are the inherent dangers of a wilderness, and that little could have been done to prevent the boulder from breaking off the ledge. He called the medical response efficient given the wilderness setting. The accident happened about 1.5 miles from the head of the trail.
"There are dangers that are inherent in that type of setting, that obviously you couldn't prepare for or prevent every single one," Fowler said. "When you do take on those trips out into the wilderness, you are bearing a great deal of responsibility on your own."
Hikers killed by rock slides may be rare, freak accidents, but not unheard of. In 2006, three hikers, two from New York who were members of the New Hampshire-based Appalachian Mountain Club, were killed in a rock slide on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. And in 2004, two men died in a rockslide at Maine's Baxter State Park. Five years ago, a hiker had to self-amputate his arm after he was trapped by a boulder in Colorado, and stranded by himself.
Gruneich and Qin were making their way to the peak of Little Haystack Mountain, some 4,800 feet in elevation. Gruneich's wife and Qin's husband, who are brother and sister, had stopped about a third of the way into the trail. Near a waterfall, Gruneich heard the sound of rocks grinding against each other, then saw chunks of rock begin to rain down. He called to Qin, 10 feet in front of him, and she curled into a fetal position. Then the boulder, 5 feet by 3 feet and 20 inches in width, came crashing down.
Gruneich ran down the trail to have his wife alert authorities. Other hikers in the area rushed back to the scene with him, as did Qin's husband, Xiaofeng Qin.
They carried Shu Qin, bloodied and hurt, to a nearby boulder, away from the waterfall. Gruneich said one rescue worker arrived with an oxygen tank, then other crews arrived with a gurney. They carried her down the trail and to an awaiting ambulance. It was about two hours after the rocks fell, said Gruneich.
Qin was taken to Littleton Regional Hospital, about 20 miles away, where she was pronounced dead.
Gruneich said he is trying to start a dialogue with New Hampshire officials to see what more could have been done. He said he hasn't spoken with authorities since leaving the state Friday. At the least, he said, he wants an explanation of the rescue procedures for Xiaofeng Qin, who had brought his wife on their first trip to America and traveled across the country, only to see her die. The couple, who have a retail business in Shanghai, were supposed to return to China on Tuesday.
They had visited Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, and Niagara Falls. Gruneich, who married his wife in September and was thrilled with her brother's and sister-in-law's visit here, said he wanted to show them the "jewels of the Northeast," the White Mountains, before their trip here ended. Now, he's trying to arrange for visas for his in-laws in China to come to Boston so they can mourn Shu Qin.
She was a "great ball of energy," he said. She enjoyed cooking, and sitting in Gruneich's sun room. She and her husband recently learned how to play Frisbee.
"How can I live without her?" a tearful Xiaofeng Qin said yesterday. "We are always together."
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. 