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    Human Interest Commentary

    Beloved Park Ranger Tragically Dies While Helping Visitor During Festival

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    Last week, a park ranger at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah died after sustaining injuries while assisting visitors during an annual astronomy event.  According to the National Park Service (NPS), 78-year-old ranger Tom Lorig was working with guests at the festival when he fell while directing a guest to a shuttle bus.

    During the fall, Lorig sustained a serious injury to the head from a large rock.  The visitor he was helping quickly called the authorities who found Lorig unresponsive.  Reportedly, several park rangers with medical training attempted to revive Lorig, but were unsuccessful.

    Park Superintendent Jim Ireland released a statement that read, “Tom Lorig served Bryce Canyon, the National Park Service, and the public as an interpretive park ranger, forging connections between the world and these special places that he loved.  As our community processes and grieves this terrible loss, we extend our deepest condolences to all of Ranger Lorig’s family and friends. We also want to express gratitude to the National Park Service and Garfield County emergency services staff who responded as well as to the bystanders who assisted NPS first responders.”

    According to the NPS, Lorig worked as a registered nurse in the Seattle area for roughly 40 years, where he also served as a seasonal and volunteer park ranger for over a decade.  The beloved ranger began working with the NPS in June 1968 at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

    The Bryce Canyon National Park posted a message on its Facebook page, sharing the sad news of Lorig’s passing.  The post began, “It is with great sadness that we share news of a loss to our park community.”  The statement continued, “Last night, Park Ranger Tom Lorig died from injuries sustained after tripping and falling while on-duty. Around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, June 7, Ranger Lorig was working with park visitors at Bryce Canyon’s annual Astronomy Festival. While directing a visitor to a shuttle bus, Ranger Lorig fell and struck his head on a large rock.  Finding him unresponsive, the visitor quickly notified a nearby law enforcement ranger. National park rangers, medically-trained bystanders, and local EMS personnel cooperated to provide initial life-saving care, but were unsuccessful in reviving Ranger Lorig. He was 78 years old.”

    The post from the national park further highlighted Lorig’s career and dedication to the NPS, where he served at 14 different national parks.  Bryce Canyon National Park honored him as a “dedicated public servant” who will be dearly missed by many.
    “Tom Lorig served for 40 years as a Registered Nurse in the Seattle, Washington area, and for over 10 years as a permanent, seasonal, and volunteer park ranger. He began his work with the National Park Service at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in June of 1968. In the decades that followed, he would serve at 14 national park sites including Badlands, Bryce Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, El Malpais, Florissant Fossil Beds, Glen Canyon, Klondike Gold Rush, Mount Rainier, New River Gorge, Olympic, Saguaro, Yosemite, Zion, and Dinosaur National Monument, of which he was especially fond. Tom was a dedicated public servant, and his loss will be felt by the many who knew him across the National Park Service,” the post concluded.
    Featured image credit: National Park Service, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Park_Ranger_hat_hanging_on_a_tree.jpg

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