Hero

I wanted to take a moment and mourn the death of James Kim, the CNET editor whose body was found yesterday in the Oregon wilderness. I had not followed this story until yesterday when I found out a friend of mine in San Francisco knew and worked with him. According to the SF Gate:

James Kim died in the southern Oregon mountains after what one rescue leader described as a "superhuman'' trek across nearly impassable terrain to try to find help for his family.

The body of the missing San Francisco man was found today, 11 days after his family's car became stuck on a side road in the snow and four days after he ventured off to look for help.

Kim, 35, died after picking his way nearly to the end of a steep, 5-mile canyon that leads down to the Rogue River in the Siskiyou National Forest west of Grants Pass. Wearing tennis shoes, he had to climb around boulders and over fallen trees in an dripping-wet environment where rescuers said they were wet within half an hour.

When news that Kim's body was found floating in Big Windy Creek, two rescue workers discussing his heroics broke down in tears. Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson emoted he was "crushed" when the news broke.

Kim's fortitude and self-sacrifice are awe-inspiring. The world lost a good man when James Kim passed away, someone who put his family before his own life.