A Yosemite visitor made a desperate attempt to rescue a 22-year-old man moments after she unknowingly photographed him being pulled toward a powerful California waterfall.
Freesia Gaul, 20, said she and her friends were finishing lunch near the top of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park on Saturday afternoon when she lifted her camera to capture what she described to the Daily Mail as a “beautiful day.”
As she took the photo, however, Gaul noticed a young man below, near the base of the nearly 600-foot drop, drifting toward what appeared to be a calmer, darker section of water away from the whitewater.
At first, the Australian-Canadian visitor thought the man might simply be playing or swimming, but a subtle detail quickly made her realize something was dangerously wrong.
“I saw slight ripples at the edge of the water,” she told the Daily Mail, saying that was the moment she understood the man, later identified as Josue Baires Alfaro, had been caught in an “incredibly strong undercurrent.”
Gaul said she immediately dropped her camera and rushed into the water, trying to reach him before the current carried him farther away.
Once in the water, she quickly felt the force of the current herself and struggled to get a secure hold on Alfaro.
She said she had only a narrow window of about 10 to 20 seconds to act before realizing there was no way to pull him to safety.
Freesia Gaul, 20, unknowingly snapped a photo of Josue Baires Alfaro, 22, drowning at Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park in California on Saturday afternoon
She was at the top of the nearly 600ft waterfall when she spotted the man in the water below
As he was swept away in the raging water, Gaul said her body kept hitting the rocks, and she started to accept the fact that her life might be over too.
But that’s when she spotted a girl holding out a stick toward her and grabbed on.
As she did so, Gaul said she painfully watched Alfaro go over the edge of the waterfall.
‘I looked at him, he looked at me. He looked at me like he wasn’t going to make it,’ she explained.
READ MORE: Inside the College Facing Explosive Allegations of a Campus Antisemitism Crisis
Once she was back on shore, Gaul ran over to where she thought he might end up. She also recalled having a sliver of hope that he might be badly injured, but still alive.
But, unfortunately, park officials later found his body.
Afterward, Gaul said she located Alfaro’s family, who were completely ‘inconsolable’.
She recalled hugging a woman who told Gaul she was the victim’s sister.
She also helped the family, who she said seemed like tourists, pack up his things that were left on the beach near the edge of the water.
Gaul then got her stuff together and headed to a nearby park bathroom, where she broke down for a couple of minutes.
Within seconds, Gaul (pictured) dropped her camera and ran into the water to try to save him, she recalled. She quickly realized that she didn’t have enough time to rescue them both that day
She also recalled having a sliver of hope that he might be badly injured, but still alive. But, unfortunately, park officials found his body
‘My friends and I started walking back to the base of the trail to go home, I’d cried briefly in the bathroom out of guilt, as it felt like he was only a hand away and if I’d tried harder I could’ve saved him,’ she stated.
More than anything, Gaul wishes that she could have saved Alfaro, but she was placed in a life-or-death situation that she described as ‘an impossible decision’.
She wants the tragedy to serve as a reminder that even the most skilled swimmers need to be cautious in water.
‘The line between brave and reckless is a fuzzy one. I’ve had to see many incidents before and know when things are about to go wrong, it keeps you always on alert.
‘Seconds can be the deciding factor between life and death, and in a split second like that, all I could do was act,’ Gaul continued.
The Daily Mail contacted the National Park Service, which is heading the investigation, for comment.
