A British climber who was killed when he shielded his wife from massive falling rocks in America’s Yosemite national park was praised by a coroner today for his ‘loving and selfless act’.
Outdoor clothing company worker Andrew Foster, 32, of Cardiff, and his wife Lucy, 28, had flown to California for a climbing trip to celebrate their first wedding anniversary last September.
But the trip ended in tragedy on September 27 as they were returning back to their base from the El Captain climb and rocks the size of cars started to fall around them.
Mr Foster threw his body over his wife and when rescuers arrived, heartbroken Lucy told them: ‘He saved me.’
At an inquest in Gloucester today the assistant coroner Caroline Saunders read a report from US accident investigator Jay Fay which described how the couple had planned to climb the rock in a single day.
Outdoor clothing company worker Andrew Foster, 32, of Cardiff, was killed when he shielded his wife, Lucy, 28, from massive falling rocks in America’s Yosemite national park was praised by a coroner today for his ‘loving and selfless act’
The couple had flown to California for a climbing trip to celebrate their first wedding anniversary last September. But the trip ended in tragedy on September 27
Rocks the size of cars started to fall around the couple s they were returning back to their base from the El Captain climb. A second rockfall (pictured) occurred at the famous California climbing spot days after the one that killed Mr Foster
But they found progress slow and decided to come back down at lunchtime because they did not want to risk descending in poor light.
They had set off at 7.15 am and were on their way back at the base of the East Buttress when the rockfall began at 1.51pm.
The report said 250 cubic metres of rock fell from a height of about 200 metres in what was the first of seven such falls that day.
‘Witnesses describe the size of the rocks falling as the size of vehicles,’ the report said.
‘Lucy was walking fifty metres behind Andrew when they heard the rocks begin to fall above them.
‘He yelled back to her to run. She ran but lost her footing on the uneven terrain, causing her to fall to the ground.
‘She heard loud rocks striking the ground near her. Andrew ran back to her and laid his body on top of her, shielding her from the rocks as they began to fall on them.
‘As the rocks stopped falling and the dust settled she saw Andrew lying beside her. She was partly trapped by rocks on her legs. She removed them and began shouting for help.
Mr Foster (left, at Yosemite on the day he was killed and, right, at Heathrow Airport as the couple headed to California) died when a piece of granite measuring 131ft x 65ft tore away from the famous rock formation
‘He had uncontrolled bleeding coming from his head. She removed her shirt and put it around his head to stop the bleeding.’
Witnesses of the tragedy climbing nearby raised the alarm after hearing Lucy ‘yelling for help,’ said the report.
When rescuers reached Lucy she told them ‘He saved me.’ She said she thought he was already dead.
However, one of the rescuers could still feel a ‘wavy’ pulse at that stage.
An air ambulance arrived at 2.45pm but at 4pm he was declared to be dead and his body was taken to the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
Local geologist Greg Stock said seven rock falls occurred that day and the first one, which hit the couple, had spread rocks across a 60 metre area
A local coroner’s report found he had a fractured skull, broken arm, and numerous abrasions and cuts.
There was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his body.
The post mortem showed he died of cranio cerebral injury.
Lucy suffered from two broken ribs and a punctured lung in the fall.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mrs Saunders said Andrew appeared to be fully and properly equipped for the climb. There had been no advance warning of the likelihood of rock falls or bad weather that day.
The couple had ‘sensibly chosen’ not to continue the climb because of the time it was taking and had paused for some food before returning, she said.
When the rocks started falling, said the coroner, Andrew was ‘aware that his wife Lucy was in danger and he took the loving and selfless act of protecting her from the fall, using his own body to shield her from the rocks.
‘It was immediately clear that the injuries were unsurvivable.’
Mr Foster’s parents, David and Julie, and his brother Matthew attended today’s inquest but did not speak during the hearing or make any comment when leaving.
Lucy Foster was treated in hospital in California after the tragedy and was expected to make a full recovery from her injuries.
At the time of Andrew’s death his family issued a statement saying ‘Yosemite was a very special place for Andrew and one that he had returned to a few times over the years to climb and explore.
‘We really cannot express our grief and still hope, every morning, that we will awake from a bad dream.’
They said Andrew’s passion and enthusiasm for ‘life and the outdoors that was just infectious for anyone who was around him.
‘Andrew and Lucy loved each other dearly and, while our loss is indescribable, we are so proud of our brave boy in saving Lucy; he will always be our hero.
‘Our family is devastated by these events: for the loss of Andy and for the plans they had made together for their future adventures.
‘He truly was the man of her dreams. We take some comfort from the fact that Andy’s last act of love saved Lucy’s life.
‘Both families are supporting each other at this incredibly difficult time of loss and sadness.’
Andrew, who was born in Cheltenham and worked for the Californian outdoor clothing company Patagonia, had proposed to his wife, who is originally from Shropshire, during a skiing holiday in the Alps in 2015 and they married the following year.
Their trip to Yosemite last Autumn with friends Paul and Sarah Black had been to celebrate their first anniversary.
Sixteen people have been killed and 100 others injured in rock falls since park records began in 1857.
The last fatality was in June 1999, when climber Peter Terbush was killed below Glacier Point.
El Capitan, one of Yosemite’s best-known landmarks, is considered a world-class challenge for rock climbers.