On February 19, 30-year-old Aaron Benjamin drowned while rafting through Grand Canyon National Park. The Park Service said they received an emergency alert from a noncommercial river trip near Hance Rapid on the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center subsequently received a report that CPR was being performed on Benjamin, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Benjamin was from Post Falls, Idaho, and was an experienced rafter. Witnesses of the incident told SFGATE that Benjamin was the last of his group to pass through Hance Rapid, one of the most difficult and longest rapids in the Grand Canyon. He reportedly hit a hole, a whitewater feature formed when water flows over a submerged rock or ledge, creating a churning, recirculating wave, and was swept overboard.
Benjamin was pulled from the water by members of his group, and park rangers were flown to the location by park helicopter. He was declared deceased after resuscitation efforts failed. The National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner are currently investigating the incident.
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