Mom Who Fell While Hiking Mt. Whitney and Spent 2 Nights in Freezing Cold Dies After Rescue
GoFundMe Cassandra Bravo
A mother of two who slipped and fell while hiking and spent two nights bearing freezing cold temperatures died shortly after she was rescued in California, according to her family and friends.
Cassandra Bravo, 34, died over the weekend following her rescue from Mt. Whitney on Saturday — two days after she vanished after telling her boyfriend she was going for a hike, according to a GoFundMe page raising money for her children.
Bravo’s friends and family grew worried on Thursday after they did not hear from her, and alerted the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, which found her car at Mt. Whitney Portal in Inyo National Forest.
Her boyfriend, father and several close friends began searching for her on Friday, and the next day, they were joined by the Inyo County Search and Rescue Team, the page said.
Bravo was ultimately found “down a steep slope of rock” on Saturday morning, apparently having slipped and fallen about 100 feet, according to the GoFundMe.
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She was wearing only a tank top and leggings amid “very cold” temperatures and a wind chill of -20 degrees, according to a weekend forecast warning by the sheriff’s office, which did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Bravo was alive and mumbling when she was found, and had managed to make her way behind a large tree stump, presumably for protection.
She was airlifted to a local hospital, but died of her injuries there.
“Those of us that knew Cassandra knew she was a FIGHTER and STRONG,” the GoFundMe said. “We know she fought to stay alive.”
Bravo was a single mom to two children, and worked as a registered nurse in the urgent care center and the emergency room at Loma Linda University Medical Center, according to the page.
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“She was an amazing nurse. She leaves behind her two beautiful children whom she LIVED for,” it read. “She was an amazing person with a take it or leave it personality that really enjoyed life.”
Mt. Whitney is the most frequently climbed mountain peak in Sierra Nevada, and sits on the boundary of Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest, according to the National Park Service. The trail from Whitney Portal is the shortest and most popular route, and the elevation at the trailhead is 8,360 feet. Elevation at the summit 14,494 feet.
