Featured Image Credit: Jonathan Rohloff /Facebook/ Jonathan Rohloff
Topics: US News, Weather, California, Parenting
Mia Williams
Topics: US News, Weather, California, Parenting
A dad has revealed what his daughter said to him just moments before she slipped and fell off the side of a cliff.
Arizona student Grace Rohloff, 20, went hiking with her dad Jonathan Rohloff in Yosemite National Park in California, on July 13.
The pair were skilled hikers who had trekked up mountains of all different terrains, and managed to get a permit to hike the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
But the 16-mile hike resulted in a tragic loss for Jonathan, who has now spoken out about the incident to warn others who are planning to try the same climb.
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Despite a ranger telling them earlier that day that a storm was impending, Jonathan recalled that the sky was clear, so the pair set off and made it to the top.
But it was at this point where the ranger's warning came to light, as the weather turned and a heavy thunder and rain storm hit the park.
Jonathan told SFGate: "A black cloud was rolling in like gangbusters.
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"I was like, 'We have got to get down now, because we don’t want to be up here with any rain'.
"It rolled in literally out of nowhere."
The dad recalled that the people in front of the duo were slow walkers, meaning that Jonathan and his daughter were stuck on the cabled area as the storm descended.
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They continued trekking down, but this is when the fatal accident occurred and Grace told her dad something that would potentially haunt him forever.
He recalled Grace saying that her shoes felt 'slippery', but supported her by instructing her to 'do one step at a time'.
But it was at this point when she suddenly slipped.
Jonathan said: "She just slid off to the side, right by me, down the mountain.
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"It happened so fast.
"I tried to reach my hand up, but she was already gone."
Without a second thought, Jonathan tried to make his way down the Dome as quickly as he could, but devastatingly it was too steep.
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Grace is thought to have fallen around 200 to 300 feet.
He phoned 911 in a second attempt to save his daughter life, and reportedly shouted: "Grace, I’m here.
"I’m not going to leave you.
"If you can hear my voice, give me a sign. I love you."
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A coroner later revealed that Grace would've died during the fall, having sustained a severe head fracture.
Jonathan described the report as 'comforting' to know his daughter 'didn't have to suffer' during the fall.
A spokesperson for Yosemite National Park told the San Francisco Chronicle that the case remains under investigation.