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14 June 2023
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW/AP) — The Hutchinson community is mourning the loss of a local doctor and is stepping up to help his family. Dr. Dustin Harker, a neurologist at Hutchinson Clinic, died last week in a rafting accident in Colorado. The 47-year-old man leaves behind a wife and 13 children.
Harker was on a white water rafting trip with four of his children and friends from his church last Friday. They were in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.
The family had rafted the same river in previous years, but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young, said in an email to the Hutchinson News.
The raft with Harker and three of his children capsized. Young said Harker threw the raft off one of his children who was trapped underneath, and everyone made it to shore.
She said Harker was even able to speak, but he soon became unresponsive, and first responders could not save him.
Young said the autopsy results indicate he passed away from two cerebral hematomas.
“They suspect his head crashed against some rocks in the river when he was thrown from the raft,” she said. “The brain trauma is what took his life.”
One of the first responders who tried to save Harker contacted Young on Tuesday. Yvette Ramos, of Aurora, Colorado, was on the Royal Gorge Train with friends around 12:30 on Friday.
Ramos told Young the train stopped, and employees ran to the front with first aid kits. She heard on the intercom that they were asking for medical. The train employees escorted Ramos to the front of the train.
She said the workers told her they were picking up a man who fell off his raft. Ramos thought someone had cut their foot on rebar or something. Two men got off the train and helped get the victim onto the train.
Ramos, another gentleman, and a nurse performed CPR on Harker for 35 minutes. Then firefighters arrived and continued CPR while Ramos continued giving rescue breaths. They were not able to save him.
“He’s the first person I’ve ever lost,” Ramos told Harker’s sister-in-law. “It’s torn me up. We continued CPR for so long because we really thought we could save him. I saw the wedding ring on his finger, and I knew he was someone’s husband, someone’s father.”
Young has started a GoFundMe account to help Harker’s wife and children. Click here if you would like to donate. She said Harker’s wife has been raising and homeschooling the children at home and is thankful for the community’s support.
The employees at Hutchinson Clinic are also dealing with the doctor’s loss. The Hutchinson Clinic posted this message on its Facebook page:
With great sadness, we share the untimely passing of our friend and colleague, Dr. Dustin Harker, Neurologist. Dr. Harker joined the Hutchinson Clinic family in early 2022 and has built meaningful relationships with his patients and our community over the last year and a half. He cared deeply about his patients and regularly shared this sentiment with those around him. We are keeping his family, friends, and patients in our thoughts and prayers, today and every day, as we process this tragic loss. If you were scheduled with Dr. Harker, we will be in touch about the next steps.
Cheryl Gonsalves, marketing manager for Hutchinson Clinic, said Harker cared deeply about his patients.
“We are still processing this sudden loss. He was an amazing physician who cared deeply about his patients, family, and our organization,” she said. “He was absolutely revered here.”