Hikers tried to help man from India who died along Blue Ridge Parkway in VA, park says

A “famed Indian yoga guru” visiting the United States is believed to have died of cardiac arrest while hiking the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, according to the National Park Service.

It happened around 3:20 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, near mile post 6, and nearby hikers tried to help him, park officials said in a news release.

“Blue Ridge Parkway dispatchers received a report of a park visitor in cardiac arrest while hiking on the Humpback Rocks trail,” officials said.

“Upon arrival, rangers and local first responders discovered Sharath Jois, age 53, of Mysore, India, receiving CPR from other hikers.”

Jois died at the scene, despite their efforts, park officials said.

The Times of India reports Jois was “a world-renowned yoga master known for teaching Ashtange yoga” and was the grandson of Ashtanga Yoga founder Krishna Pattabha Jois.

He was in the U.S. as part of a tour “to teach yoga to his students” and was scheduled to return to his home in India in December, The Hindu reports. He was a husband and father of two, the news outlet said.

The University of Virginia reports Jois launched a “new, accessible yoga series” at the Contemplative Services Center on Nov. 8.

Humpback Rocks trail begins at a Humpback Gap parking area and continues to a picnic area nearly four miles away, according to the National Park Service. Humpback Rocks is located in the first mile and is reached by ascending a “strenuous 700-foot climb” that culminates at a view of the Rockfish and Shenandoah valleys.

Park officials didn’t reveal how far Jois had hiked before he collapsed.

The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles from Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina.

This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Hikers tried to help man from India who died along Blue Ridge Parkway in VA, park says."