Mountain Biker Who Helped Rescue Hikers Dies

A group of four mountain bikers came across four hikers in the San Diego County desert on Saturday who had no food or water in the 103-degree heat. The bikers spent hours helping the four, who appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion, and facilitating their rescue, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Given the GPS coordinates by the bikers, a Cal Fire helicopter crew arrive to pick up the hikers. "Once the four hikers were lifted to safety, they required no further treatment," said Cal Fire Capt. Brent Pascua, per NBC News. The two bikers who had stayed at the spot for the rescue then headed back to the trailhead, where others were waiting for them, but became separated on the way.

About a quarter-mile from the trailhead in Jacumba, rescuers later found one of the cyclists, unresponsive. He was taken to an ambulance brought for the four hikers. Attempts to revive him failed, and he was pronounced dead late that afternoon. The cyclist, whose identity was not released, was "just trying to help out," Pascua said, adding, "unfortunately, bad things happen to people out there when it's this hot." (More hikers stories.)