‘Bachelorette’ contestant and BYU grad Eric Hill dies after Utah paragliding accident
An image from Facebook shows Eric Hill, a BYU graduate and former "Bachelorette" contestant killed in a paragliding accident in Utah.
An image from Facebook shows Eric Hill, a BYU graduate and former "Bachelorette" contestant killed in a paragliding accident in Utah.
If anyone had an innate sense of adventure, it was BYU grad and California native Eric Hill. Hill was about a third of the way through the “Global Odyssey” challenge to visit 195 countries in a record-breaking three years when tragedy struck, ending this leg of his adventure on earth.
Last Sunday, Hill was paragliding from Point of the Mountain in Draper when his parachute collapsed just after lift-off, sending him careening into the side of the rugged cliff face.
According to Unified Fire Authority spokesman Brian Anderton, Hill had just lifted off from the steep rock bench and was hovering 10 to 15 feet above ground when he began swinging like a pendulum. The parachute malfunction caused him to slam into the hillside and left him critically injured.
The slope of the hill where he crashed was steep and required a technical rescue team and medical experts to get him down, after which he was transported to a nearby hospital and put into a medically-induced coma.
Hill tragically succumbed to his injuries Wednesday, passing away in the early hours of the morning. Friends and family have been sharing love and memories on Hill’s Facebook page since then, evidencing just how many lives he touched.
“Eric passed peacefully early this morning just after midnight,” said Emily DeLong Hill on his page. “The whole family was able to be at his side as he slipped away. We are so very grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of love shown to him and us. We are thankful that so many of his friends were able to see him and that we were able to meet them too. Thank you for your love. Eric lived a big life and I know he will be missed enormously. We look forward to a sweet reunion with him someday.”
Brad Heitmann, a friend of Hill’s, also posted to his page.
“Of Eric Hill, it could be said, ‘He loved life so much it killed him,'” he said. “I’ve never seen someone reach out and capture the world with such zest. The best way to sum Eric up would be to take a map and and litter it with brightly colored pushpins. Hundreds and thousands of pushpins, each of which represent little moments Eric shared with all of us. You know what I’m talking about — those little fun moments captured in those hundreds and thousands of pictures. Taken together, could all of these moments make up a life? No. There are just too many. If these moments are the measure of a life, then it’s fair to say Eric lived more in that last year than most of us live in a lifetime.”
According to Hill’s brother Brian in a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, Hill was originally from Citrus Heights, Calif., though he lived in Salt Lake City. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and was a contestant on the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette.”
Hill was one of the men contending for the heart of Andi Dorfman, a “Bachelor” alum known from her time on Juan Pablo’s season, as well as her dramatic voluntary exit after the hometown and overnight date episodes.
Though Dorfman’s season of “The Bachelorette” isn’t set to debut until May 19, US Weekly reported Hill was selected by Dorfman for her first one-on-one date on the show before ultimately being eliminated later on in the season.
Hill’s death comes as a tragic shock to friends and family, and a memorial fund, “Live Like Eric,” has been set up by them in his honor. Anyone interested in donating to the fund that will support Hill’s family can follow this link.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.