ASPEN, Colo.—Authorities in Aspen say a Miami attorney died Wednesday after trying to rescue his wife from the Roaring Fork River.
Melissa Chaykin slipped on a wet rock while taking a photograph of a series of waterfalls along the Cascades section of the river. Steven Chaykin went in after her, hit his head and was swept down the river through two waterfalls. He was stuck under a boulder and was pulled out by bystanders using a 20-foot-long dead, branchless pine tree.
One started performing CPR and rescue personnel continued after they arrived. They pronounced him dead at the scene.
About a chain of about half-dozen people on the river’s bank held on to the dead tree as Benjamin “Benjy” Susswein held on to the end. While holding on to the tree, Susswein, 21, of Yonkers, N.Y., witnesses said he grasped Steven Chaykin by putting him in a scissors’ hold with his legs.
Melissa Chaykin was stranded on a rock near one of the waterfalls during the ordeal. Swiftwater rescue technicians climbed out to her and helped her get back to the bank.
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Information from: Aspen Daily News,
