PHOENIX — Joel Brotherton’s mother Karen Rose says he loved the outdoors, playing guitar and writing songs.
On Saturday, Brotherton, 33, was hiking the Hole in the Rock at Papago Park when he fell 30 to 40 feet, according to witnesses. It’s unclear what exactly happened.
Phoenix Fire Technical Teams were dispatched and took him off the mountain where he was then transported to a nearby trauma center.
He passed away the following morning.
Rose says Brotherton had just taken a new sales job. He was the Thunderbird High School mascot in 2005. He was passionate and creative and had a good sense of humor.
Investigators haven’t said if Brotherton had gone off trail or not, but it’s easy for visitors to get distracted and leave the path.
“Lot of these mountains are steep. So, we have a term we like to call trailblazing and that means not getting off the path. Those trails are there for a reason. You get off the paths, there are loose rocks and loose dirt and that’s where fall injuries happen,” said Todd Keller, a captain with the Phoenix Fire Department.
Phoenix Fire also encourages hikers to stay hydrated – even though the temperatures are in the 70s and 80s the heat can still sneak up on you and try not to hike alone.