'It was the hardest thing I've had to go through in my whole life'
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SEATTLE -- The climber who spent hours trying to save the lives of two teenage hikers last weekend says it was the most difficult experience of his life.
Samuel Morrisson Sr. and his hiking partner were just returning to their car on Sunday when a teenage hiker came sprinting down the mountain for help. The hiker said his brother and another teen had fallen during a hike.
An experienced outdoorsman with first aid skills, Morrisson turned around and ran the four miles back to the injured boys.
"If you're out hiking and you need help, it's not even a question of whether we're going to do it. We'll give it our all no matter if it's risking our lives or not," Morrisson said.
The injured hikers, Andrew Lusink, 16, and Ben Skagen, 18, had fallen hundreds of feet after climbing the steep, rocky slope of Otter Falls near North Bend.
Morrisson and his hiking partner, Derek Cofield, reached the severely injured boys and immediately began work trying to keep them breathing until a ranger could get there.
"I thought those kids were going to make it when we got there," Morrisson said.
They built a signal fire after the ranger called for a chopper. Despite their best efforts, the two boys died before help could arrive.
Morrisson said he's still struggling with the deaths.
"It was the hardest thing I've had to go through in my whole life," he said.
Holding his 8-month old son is a comfort to Morrisson, but he said he still feels deep sorrow.
"I'll think of them every time, every time I'm out," he said. "I'll remember what happened. You gotta love life. You can't give up because hard things happen."
A memorial service for the two hikers is scheduled for next Monday.
Bless you for being such a caring, compassionate person. You did everything you could, and I'm so happy that there are people like you in this world.Â
God bless you, Mr. Morrisson - for being there for the brother of one of those two - who needed you most of all. You were on that trail - most importantly there to support the brother who needed SOMEONE to help him deal with it all most of all.Â
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God bless the surviving family and loved ones of these two young men. There was probably nothing anyone could do after the fall occured.Â
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Let's all be better educated and informed next time around however. About climbing rocky slopes, high, high up. And how best and most safely to do so. Such a tragic story.Â
Don't worry I'm sure the grateful KATU community will turn this against you and say you're a punk communist liberal hippie progressive.
 @on shing daoÂ
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Maybe you should go somewhere else where there is a higher class of people more like yourself.
 @RalphCramden It's called heaven. You are already there. You just have to create it.
 @on shing dao Way to be the turd in the punchbowl.
 @randomdude I'm surprised you weren't the ringleader. You don't have anything nice to say about anything.
Jesus saves... nine times out of ten.
Very sad news. My condolences to the families and friends of these young men. They were lucky that they had their friends and Sam and his friend there to be with them.
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While I understand Sam's sorrow, he has nothing to regret. He did everything he could to help, and when it comes down to it, what more can you give but your all? We are honored as a species to have people like Sam and his friend who do the right thing, regardless of circumstances.
Sad that Sam will forever carry the scar of this traumatic event. It's apparent that he's a good person to run four miles and valiantly attempt to keep these boys alive. I can only assume as painful as it is, at the end of the day he'll be a better person for having experienced such a powerful moment in his life. My thoughts and well wishes go out to you and your family, Sam. And again, deepest condolences to the loved ones of these two boys. Hugs
My sincere sympathy to the two boys family, how horribly sad.. What a difficult time this must be for the family and friends.. The guys that tried to save them are real heros, I love his attitude , he did all he could, so sad it didn't work out..
I know it is difficult but hopefully these guys realize they did all they could and they were extremely unselfish and heroic in this horrible situation.
Oh my gosh, it's Jesus! What Jesus, err, Morrison ended up doing is nothing short of heroic if you ask me. Sadly, the outcome for the young injured men is not what we all would have hoped. However, it is great to see that truly great people such as Morrison still exist in the world, it would be great if there were more people like him. And while, I think he may look like Jesus, the actions he took are truly like what I would have expected if someone were following in the footsteps of Christ.
Samuel and Derek,you are heros.You risked your lives to help these 2 young men,when alot of people would not have wanted to get involved.It sounds like you did everything you could and stayed with them to wait for rescue help to arrive.
Mr Morrisson & Mr Cofield, you both represent the best in what people should be. Having no direct connection to either of the victims, I can only say thank you for being the person, outdoorsman and citizen you are. My prayers that your grief will give way to the realization that your efforts, irrelevent of the outcome, were justified and appreciated.Â
Bravo, Gentlemen!  Your actions stand as an inspiration to us all. Â
Samuel Morrison and Derek Cofield you are amazing heroes. Stay safe out there and keep loving life!
Mr Morrison and Mr Cofield are to be commended for their efforts in assisting the 2 injured teens... it sounds as though there were probably very severe internal injuries involved, and sometimes, there is just more damage than the human body is able to overcome. Â Â
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Rest in peace, Mr Lusink and Mr Skagen... My condolences go to the families and friends of these 2 young men... Â Hopefully, Mr Morrison and Mr Cofield can find comfort in the knowledge that at least these young men did not die alone; that they had people there with them, caring for them and trying to help them. Â Â
Such a pointless tragedy and all because they decided to go off the trail and â climb the falls? My goodness I've seen those falls a few times, trying to climb them is not something anyone should ever consider doing! I'm just glad that even as a teen I never tried stuff like that, I guess I was taught early to do risk assessment. The potential "fun" of doing something balanced against the results of what could go wrong. Now their families are dealing with the grief.
 @PDX Dave Ya sadly my risk assessment meter was broken until after about age 28 along with many other males.
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While it did occasionally work it just about as often said go for it...
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Looking back 35 years ago I am lucky to still have myself and my almost equally as crazy friends all around and healthy.
 @FreedomRocks Be careful, Freedom, you're heading into the age of {whispering} 'mid life crisis', where it all begins again. Be extra careful, we don't snap back as fast as we did as teens.
@PDX Dave Most adolescencent minds don't have the foresight to forsee these types of tragedies, even with good parenting things like this can happen to well informed adolescences. Those young men are incredibly fortunate that there was not only some one able to rescue them but also willing!
@OliverNicholas Oliver, while the men tried to save the teens and should be commended for doing everything they possibly could to do so, the teens died. There is nothing fortunate about that for the teens.
 @OliverNicholas  @PDX You're right about the adolescent mind, and I appreciate the gentle way you corrected PDX Dave - I was about ready to jump down his throat for being so judgmental. But can one really believe those young men were "incredibly fortunate" considering that they died?