James Kim RIP

A man whom I never met died this past week trying to save his family who was stranded on an isolated road in Oregon. I never knew James Kim, but there were a few things in common between James and myself. We both have children of our own and he was a technology editor reviewing consumer gadgets, like myself. The story is James and his wife and two young daughters were driving home from a Thanksgiving holiday in Oregon when they took a wrong turn and ended up lost, and then snowed in, on a logging road in Oregon's forest country. For nine days they survived in their car, first running the car at night to keep the heater on, then burning their tires when the car ran out of gas. He set out on foot by himself to try and find help on a Saturday morning, but perished sometime between Saturday and Wednesday. His family was rescued on Monday. The thing is him going out to look for help is what helped his wife and two daughters get rescued. A helicopter hired by his family spotted his foot prints in the snow, and his footprints led to his car, where his family was located.

As a father, I would have done the same thing with no hesitation. He made the ultimate sacrifice and it is really sad that he died. It has been on my mind since I heard the story of the family's disappearance. Sadly, he died less than a mile from a fishing lodge that was stacked with food to last for months. Hopefully, the state will erect road blocks on those logging roads that aren't plowed during the winter.