Kansas doctor Dustin Harker dies saving his daughter from drowning on rafting trip in Colorado

A Kansas doctor saved his daughter when she became trapped by their overturned raft in a rushing Colorado river, but was unable to save himself.

Dustin Harker, 47, a neurologist from Hutchinson, was on a whitewater rafting trip Friday with friends from church and four of his 13 children when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.

The family had rafted the same river in previous years but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, said Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young.

He had three of his children (17-tear-old Matthieu, 15-year-old Ayden, and 13-year-old Camille) in the raft with he and other members of their party, CBS Colorado reported. His 18-year-old daughter Clara was in another raft. 

The raft capsized in a series of rapids, Young said.

“Camille was trapped under the raft and Dustin was able to flip it over and get it off of her,” Young told CBS News Colorado. “He was also able to get them both back on to the raft.”

Everyone struggled to get to shore, Young added, but made it.

“Unfortunately, by then Dustin had already taken on too much water,” Young said. “He was still speaking but shortly after became unresponsive.”

He died despite CPR efforts.

Her brother-in-law told CBS Colorado that Harker did not die from drowning. A recently completed autopsy determined Harker died from two cerebral hematomas. 

“They suspect his head crashed against some rocks in the river when he was thrown from the boat,” Young stated. “The brain trauma is what took his life.”

Cheryl Gonsalves, marketing manager for Hutchinson Clinic, said Harker cared deeply about his patients.

“He was absolutely revered here,” she said.

A GoFundMe page set up for Harkin has raised more than $33,000.