Google software engineer, 29, killed during a hike in Yosemite by falling sequoia branch
A 29-year-old Google software engineer was killed hiking in Yosemite National Park when a branch from a giant sequoia tree fell and hit her on the head.
Angela Lin, an engineer at Salesforce and then Google, was hiking on July 19 with her boyfriend and two friends through Tuolumne Grove, a paved trail lined with massive sequoias.
A loud cracking sound from above suddenly rang out, and branches from one of the giant trees began to fall, Lin’s boyfriend, David Hua, told SFGate.
“Two to three seconds later, branches fell out of the sky,” Hua said. “One big branch struck Angela, and then there were a bunch of smaller ones directly behind me.”
As the branches tumbled down, Hua recalled closing his eyes. But when he opened them, he found Lin sprawled out on the ground, her face up, with a pool of blood around her head.
The group immediately called 911 and performed CPR until a park ranger arrived. Soon after, an ambulance came, but Lin was never placed inside. Hua said emergency responders later told him the falling branch likely killed Lin instantly.
“It was just unimaginable that something like this could occur,” Hua said, adding, “On such a popular trail, too.”
Tuolumne Grove, where the group had been hiking, was closed to visitors for about a week after Lin’s death. Yosemite Park officials told SFGate the incident remains under investigation.
Park officials did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
Hua said Lin’s family had not been given much information from the park service, prompting them to reach out to the media.
“We are seeking more information from the park service regarding this incident, especially around trail safety, maintenance and awareness of problematic trees on popular trails, and future prevention of similar incidents,” Hua said.
Traumatized bystanders have also been searching for information following the tragic incident, with some posting on Reddit in hopes of finding out what happened to Lin.
“I am a tourist, but was on the scene of an extremely tragic freak accident in the area trying to provide [aid], and it has been haunting me,” someone wrote in a post titled “Tuolumne Grove Incident 7/19.”
“I can’t stop thinking about it and can’[t find any news articles updating about the situation,” the person wrote.
Later in their post, the Redditor commented, “It hits so so hard because they were doing nothing wrong or careless…Life can be so cruel.”
While being struck and killed by a tree branch at Yosemite is unlikely, it isn’t unprecedented. Last year, an Australian hiker, Harry Partington, was crushed by a falling tree on the park’s Four Mile Trail.
In August 2015, two high school students sleeping in a tent were killed by a falling oak limb. A concessions worker was killed in 2012 when a tree fell on his tent cabin during a windstorm.
Lin’s death, however, occurred on a day with no wind. She also was not camped under a tree, but hiking, Hua said.
“The sad thing is that Angela is the most cautious person you can be,” Hua said.
“She is super careful. She stays on trails. She never goes off trails. So, usually when you hear about these incidents, someone is doing something dangerous, like playing in the water or near a cliff or something,” he said.
Lin graduated with her master’s degree from University of Texas at Austin before working in the Bay Area as a Google engineer.
“We lost a loved and respected member of our time. We’re very saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts are with their family and loved ones,” a Google spokesperson said.
