Colleagues of a prominent Calgary doctor killed while base jumping at the Grand Canyon call his loss a huge blow, while his family say they will miss him dearly.
Dr. David Stather, 41, was a respiratory specialist and a leader in his field.
On Friday, Stather, an extreme sports enthusiast, was at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, base jumping with a group of friends.
He completed one successful jump with a wing suit, but something went wrong during the second, resulting in his death.
Arizona police believe that equipment failure had something to do with the incident, but they are investigating further.
Colleagues remember Stather as a meticulous doctor, who was always careful with his chosen sport.
“Whether it’s hiking or snowboarding or, in this case, skydiving, he took the same energy to those as he did to his work here and he applied the same meticulousness and thoroughness to them,” says Dr. Alain Tremblay.
Stather’s parents live in Guelph, Ontario, and issued a statement on Monday:
“We are so very proud of our son in all of his professional accomplishments, especially for all the lives he’s saved and touched in his life.
He loved most outdoor sports and getting the most out of life. We, as well as his younger brother and two sisters, will miss him dearly.”
(With files from CTVNews.ca)
