Kansas doctor, a dad of 13, dies after rescuing daughter during Colorado rafting trip

A Kansas doctor gave his life to save his daughter during a whitewater rafting trip in Colorado, his family said.

Dustin Harker, a 47-year-old father of 13 from Hutchinson, was rafting with a church group and several of his kids when the raft he was in capsized on the afternoon of June 9, KRDO reported.

The raft flipped along the Arkansas River, near the Sunshine Falls Rapid, the Associated Press reported.

While Harker and his family had been through this area before, the rapids were more intense than normal due to high rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young, told The Hutchinson News.

Even under normal conditions, this section of the Arkansas River is known to be challenging.

“The most famous (or perhaps infamous) of rapids in the Royal Gorge, Sunshine Falls Rapid is the first major rapid in the Gorge,” according to a local rafting guide service’s website.

The service rates the Sunshine Falls Rapid as between class 4 or 5, signifying advanced or expert level rapids.

“Everyone struggled to get above water. In the tumult, Dustin threw the capsized raft off his youngest daughter who was trapped underneath,” Young told Hutchinson News, adding that Harker made it to shore, but it was too late.

“Unfortunately, by then, Dustin had already taken on too much water,” Young said. “He was still speaking but shortly after became unresponsive.”

Attempts were immediately made to save his life, KRDO reported. The Fremont County Coroner is working to determine an official cause of death.

“We love you, Dustin Harker,” Young said in a Facebook post. “And we promise to shower your family with the love you have for them. And I know you’re with them still.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2023 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Kansas doctor, a dad of 13, dies after rescuing daughter during Colorado rafting trip."