A teenager has died at a hospital four days after suffering head injuries in a fall at Yosemite National Park, in a deadly year for visitors to the California nature reserve, authorities said Thursday.
Kao Kue, 17, died at Doctor's Medical Center in Modesto, in central California, on Wednesday, a Stanislaus County coroner's clerk said.
An air ambulance flew Kue to the hospital after he suffered head injuries at Yosemite on Saturday when he fell on the steep and rocky Mist Trail, a popular feature at the park, officials said.
Bob McCarthy, Kue's volleyball coach Clovis West High School in Fresno, Calif., paid tribute to the teen.
"Besides volleyball, Kao was just a wonderful young man. Always had a smile on his face, always worked hard, and represented our program, his school and his family in a class manner," he told KSEE24 News.
Kue would have been a senior this year, according to KSEE24.
Spike in deaths
Fourteen visitors have died this year at Yosemite, which has seen six drownings, two fatal falls, one death by car accident and five by natural causes, said Park Ranger Jessica Chamberlain.
Last year the park had a record 15 fatalities; typically five to six people die there each year, she said.
Although he was seriously hurt in the park, Kue's death was not being counted toward the annual total for Yosemite fatalities because he died outside the park's boundaries, she said.
Further details on the circumstances of the boy's injuries and death were withheld by park officials due to his age.
Park officials are not planning to install more signs or other protections for visitors due to the higher than average number of fatalities this year, Chamberlain said.
"We are adamant about educating all of Yosemite's visitors about potential dangers, as well as ensuring that it remains a wild place," Chamberlain said.
The high number of drownings at Yosemite this year comes as the park's rivers and streams have swollen due to unusually heavy snowfall over the winter.
"The rivers are still high," Chamberlain said. "We are asking visitors to use caution and common sense."