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| Park Joon-hyuk, a Korean tourist who fell down a cliff at the Grand Canyon on Dec. 30 is being airlifted. Courtesy of Marcos Osuna |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Marcos Osuna, a U.S. Army master sergeant, contacted The Korea Times on Jan. 5 to inquire about the condition of Park Joon-hyuk, who fell off a cliff at the Grand Canyon a week earlier and had been hospitalized and remained unconscious.
Osuna administered first aid to the Korean youth. Each of his emails to The Korea Times conveyed a sense of concern. Then, the Army veteran expressed relief in his short but emotional letter on Feb. 14, on hearing that Park had regained consciousness.
"That means a lot to me and my family," he said. "My family has been praying for his speedy recovery ― I wish to meet the Park family one day."
Park, 25, has been in Flagstaff Medical Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, for a month, not being able to eat on his own or speak.
According to Osuna's email, he and his cousin Joe Arellano saw Park fall in the canyon on Dec. 30 while on a family visit. The pair were going down to the main lookout point at that time.
"I could not grab him because he was not within my arm's reach," he recalled.
Osuna and Arellano promptly scaled down the canyon as they felt it was their civic duty to help a complete stranger. There, they found Park tangled in shrubs after falling approximately 30 meters in about two seconds.
He was not breathing when they found him. They checked his pulse, applied pressure to prevent further bleeding, and used jackets and clothing to move him up to a safer zone.
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| Park Joon-hyuk is being rescued. Courtesy of Marcos Osuna |
Osuna said that his wife and other family members called 911. After around 45 minutes, three rescuers came with ropes and harnesses. The pair helped the medical teams airlift Park, who was then sent to the hospital nearby.
"From Park's wallet, we found he did not hail from the United States and thought his family, wherever they were, might not know what just happened because we did not hear anyone screaming or coming to his aid," he said. "I learnt he was from South Korea thanks to The Korea Times article."
He added: "As a service member, American, a family member, and for humanity, my cousin and I would have done the exact same thing knowing Park was a Korean tourist. My cousin, who is not in the military, reacted immediately to the fall of Park. We are all human and a life is a life."
Meanwhile, in Korea, there has been public debate over whether the government should financially support Park's medical and transport expenses. The controversy was sparked after Park's uncle pleaded for help to bring Park back to Korea on Cheong Wa Dae's national petition page on Jan. 17.
His medical bill is about 650 million won ($570,000), according to Hwang In-sang, the deputy consul general of the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, Wednesday. On top of that, the transfer fee may amount to 200 million won ($177,000), according to reports.
"But the Park family did not ask the consulate for financial aid," Hwang said in a telephone interview.
He added Park could be transferred to Korea without paying the entire bill as long as he pays up later, according to U.S. hospital regulations.
