Moab resident and active community member Chad Harris died on July 1 during a trip to the 12,500-feet-high town of Puno, Peru.
The 48-year-old was traveling with his two sons and likely died from extreme high-altitude illness after hiking a nearby peak. Harris was an experienced cyclist whom friends say loved to travel with his kids.
Harris had shown sensitivity to high elevation before, his ex-wife, Margaret Harris said. Their sons, Wred and Riis, ages 13 and 10, told Margaret that Chad had been “suffering for two days before he died, coughing up blood” and being unable to sleep at night following a hike. He didn’t seek medical attention, according to the boys.
On the night of June 30, Harris decided to sleep in a separate hotel room from his sons, so he wouldn’t disrupt them. When the kids woke up the next morning at 7 a.m., they couldn’t get into their dad’s room, so the hotel staff accessed it through the window.
“They opened the door, and Wred said he ran in and saw Chad with bloody foam around his mouth, dead,” Margaret said. “I can’t imagine the trauma of seeing your dad slowly die over two days — it’s so intense.”
Chad likely died from what’s called high-altitude pulmonary edema.
“HAPE is a severe form of high-altitude illness that, if left untreated, can lead to mortality in 50 percent of affected individuals,” according to the National Institutes of Health. The primary treatment is descending to a lower altitude with minimal exertion until symptoms resolve. If that’s not possible, supplemental oxygen is the most effective treatment.
Darby Teander, whose relationship with Chad ended a couple of months ago, said every day since he died is different but the first week was especially hard.
“It’s been really hard. This is the first time I’ve truly experienced grief,” Teander said. “It’s so surreal, it’s still hard to believe what happened.”
Springing into Action
The boys messaged Margaret over WhatsApp with one of the hotel staff’s phones.
“It said, “Mommy, call me, it’s urgent. I think Daddy is dead,” Margaret said. After speaking with the hotel staff, the reality of the situation — that her children were thousands of miles away without a parent — hit Margaret.
“They were in pain – something so traumatic just happened and they were essentially alone,” she said. “There were strangers who were nice to them, but [my kids] don’t speak the language and they just saw their dad die in a very horrible, painful manner.”
In Draper that morning, staying with her parents, Margaret got to Peru as soon as possible with her sister.
Wred and Riis stayed in an orphanage and then Family Protective Services of Peru became wards of the state for about 30 hours. Luckily, the boys were able to communicate with their mom over Facetime.
“[Wred] was just screaming and crying, like super distraught,” Margaret said. “… I told him ‘I’m coming to get you, we’re gonna survive this, it’s going to be okay.’”
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