Dad Dies After Having 'Risked His Life' to Save 3 Kids, Who Were Rescued After Fall from Oregon Cliff
"The trail was easy enough up until approaching the waterfall where the trail became treacherous," a family member wrote on a GoFundMe page
A father has died and three boys have been rescued in Oregon after the group fell over a cliff while hiking, authorities say.
Ryan Acord, 36, of Grant's Pass, was hiking with his wife, two sons, and a friend of one of the boys, when they went over the cliff north of Secret Beach, according to a statement from Curry County Sheriff John Ward.
"They followed Google Maps and it pointed them in the wrong spot and they thought they were in the right spot so they parked and went down the wrong trail," Ward told NBC affiliate KOBI.
According to a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of his family, the trail they were supposed to be on "was not marked clearly," so they "ended up on the wrong trail, which was Thunder Cove."
"The trail was easy enough up until approaching the waterfall where the trail became treacherous. At this point, it was too late and tragedy unfolded before their eyes," read a message on the page.
Ryan, who saw the kids go "over the initial portion of the embankment," slipped while trying to save them and fell, the sheriff told KOBI.
His wife, Jordan Acord, was the one to call the police, according to the sheriff's statement.
First responders found both Ryan and Nolan Haptonstall, 8, on the rocky beach, about 200 feet below the trail's end, according to Ward's statement. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.
A U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter airlifted the child out of the area and delivered him to Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach, Ward said. He was later transferred via Air Reach to the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland.
The boy's mother told the sheriff that her son sustained serious injuries from the fall, but "is doing fine" now and expected to make "a full recovery," per the statement.
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Search-and-rescue crews were able to reach the two brothers, 12 and 8, who had "fallen off the upper portion of the trail" and tumbled down the steep embankment, Ward said in the statement.
The 12-year-old boy, identified by police as Kade Acord, was found "hanging onto a small tree," which had stopped him from falling further, per the sheriff's statement. He was transported via Cal Ore Life Flight Ambulance to Curry General hospital for treatment and later released.
The 8-year-old child, identified as Liam Stidham, "was uninjured and released" to his mom, Jordan, shortly after his rescue, the sheriff added.
The U.S. Coast Guard airlifted Ryan's body out of the area after the rescues were complete, Ward added.
Secret Beach is one of several hidden beaches in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, according to the Salem Statesman Journal. Three people have died in the area in the last three years.
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Ward said that there have been several "issues along that whole coastline" in recent years, according to KOBI.
"I can't tell you how many times search and rescue has responded down there in the last several years because people find themselves in situations they cannot get out of," he told the outlet.
Lincoln Middle School in Lincoln, Arkansas said Acord was an educator in the school district "for years" before his family moved to Oregon.
Acord, his wife Jordan and their children moved to Grants Pass from Northwest Arkansas in 2022 "to start their new adventure," according to a GoFundMe campaign for his family.
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His sister-in-law, who started the fundraiser, said the father was "a courageous, brave, brilliant, adventurous husband and dad."
"Ryan lost his life doing what he loved most," Abigail wrote, adding, "he didn't die for nothing, he risked his life to save a child."
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