Wife Watches Husband Fall to Death From N.H. Mountain Summit While Taking Photos on a Hike
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A New Hampshire man has died after falling off a mountain peak while taking photos with his wife.
The couple were climbing Mount Willard in Crawford Notch on Saturday when the man fell from the mountain's summit, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Rob Arey, Marketing Director for Mount Washington Cog Railway, tells PEOPLE that steam engineer Joe "Eggy" Eggleston was the hiker killed in Saturday's tragic accident.
The Daily Mail was first to report the 59-year-old victim's identity.
Eggelston and his wife — whom Arey identified as Kelly Eggleston — had been taking pictures of the Crawford Notch area upon reaching the summit, according to Fish and Game.
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Kelly said she "heard her husband yell" before realizing he had tumbled down a steep cliff, according to Saturday's release.
Conservation Officers and members of Mountain Rescue Service responded to the scene of Saturday's accident shortly after 10:30 a.m., Fish and Game said.
Rescuers rappelled down the cliff and located the man "approximately 300 feet below the summit" at around 2:30 p.m., the department said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Rescuers managed to remove the victim's body from the face of the cliff and return it to the Mount Willard trailhead parking area around 6:45 p.m. that evening, per Saturday's release.
Eggleston, who was legally deaf after contracting meningitis as a child, "was out doing what he loved to do" at the time of his sudden death, Arey tells PEOPLE.
The late engineer worked with Mount Washington Cog Railway "for over 30 years," and would bring guests to the top of Mount Washington on the company's historic steam engines, Arey adds.
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Mount Washington Cog Railway paid tribute to Eggelston and his love for his craft in a Facebook post shared early Monday morning.
"Eggy, living gracefully with profound hearing loss since childhood, once said to us 'where else could a deaf man fulfill his dream of running a steam locomotive?' " the company wrote.
"His passion for The Cog was evident to anyone who ever shared a moment, or a shift, with him," they added.
