Koop, David C. (4/28/1968)

David Charles Everett Koop, December 30, 1947 - April 28, 1968. David was the son of the later Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop and his wife Elizabeth. David was an avid and experienced rock climber and geology major at Dartmouth College who died in a tragic climbing accident on Mount Cannon, New Hampshire, at age 20.

This photo appears on the cover of a memorial to David written by his parents. See the notes below for info about the book.

Reader’s Digest published an article by Dr. Koop in February 1968 titled, “What I Tell a Dying Child’s Parents.” On April 28th of that year, the dean of Dartmouth College called and told him he had bad news and he went on to say, “The worst, David is dead. He was killed in a climbing accident on Mount Cannon this afternoon.” From that perspective, Dr. Koop and his wife, Elizabeth, wrote “Sometimes Mountains Move,” a loving memorial to David’s memory and how they dealt with his sudden passing. It contains a different viewpoint than most people have when it comes to the death of someone they knew. It is a book full of hope; the thesis of hope is based on trusting in the sovereignty of God. Near the end of the book, the Koops offer the following practical things about the course of recovery you might one day find useful for yourself or to minister to others: there is no timetable for grief; there is no blueprint to show one the way through it; each recovery is extremely personal; and the expectations of others should be ignored.” The likely best nugget of truth is that they “found that the void is really never filled, but God does make the void bearable.”

This book was written for those who seek solace from the grief of a lost one, particularly loss of a child. I reread it often and recommend it to friends, family, and fellow church members who are experiencing grief from loss of a loved one. The book can be found on Amazon.

There is also a faith-based mission website dedicated to climbers that offers the book free to members of that community. They will also send it to churches seeking it as a resource for grieving families. They are not averse to sending it to individuals in need. It is at this link:

www.srcfc.org/Good-News/Remembering-The-Fallen/Sometimes-...

This brief book can also be read in PDF format at this link:www.campbellorthodontics.com/Documents/Sometimes%20Mounta...

The Find-a-Grave memorial to David Koop is at the this link:

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=koop&a...;

This account of David's tragic death is quoted from the book:

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David and Charlie, his climbing partner, had decided to try a route up the rock face of Mount Cannon near Franconia Notch, called "Sam's Swan Song." While they hiked into the woods to the foot of the cliff, the weather was uncertain, but by the time they reached the starting point of the climb, the clouds had lifted, the pine needless were covered with rime ice, and the sun came out to make it one of those crisp, clear days in which David reveled.

The boys made their ascent by leapfrogging. One would climb a safe distance up and then fasten himself to the face of the cliff by means of a nylon rope tied into a piton (a steel spike with a ring on its end) driven into a crack in the rock by a hammer. Thus secured, he would say, "Off belay," meaning that he was safely over his immediate climb, anchored firmly to the rock, and now in a position to act as security for his partner. . . . .

With Charlie fastened to the face of the cliff, David made his last climb up and then around an outcropping of rock, so that he was out of Charlie's vision. When 60 feet of nylon rope had been played out (the rope attached to one climber goes around the second climber's body so that, in case of a fall, the second climber can break the fall of his partner by using his body as a winch), David called, "Hey, Charlie. There's a piece of loose rock here, and it's as big as a house!"

We'll never know the details of the next moments. David was a sophisticated climber, aware of the dangers of loose rock and of stone avalanches. Charlie heard a roar of falling stone, David fell, Charlie applied a dynamic belay, and David came to rest hanging 60 feet below Charlie.

Charlie got to David as rapidly as he could by rappelling as far as the rope would carry him (sliding in a sling passed between the legs and over the shoulder); and then, after fixing another piton, he descended to David, who hung a few feet above a 14-inch ledge. Charlie lowered David to this ledge and secured him there. David's left leg was crushed. Charlie applied a tourniquet above the injury, but Chick [Dr. Koop] believes the situation was already irreversible from blood loss.

David's first words were, "Off belay." While this signifies to us that David was confused (he had a hole in his helmet and a depressed fracture of his skull), it brings the comfort of suspecting that he perhaps had little knowledge of the gravity of the situation. But more than that, the Lord has used that phrase to comfort us when, in the sleepless hours of the night, our thoughts turned to the details of the fall. "Off belay" means to us that, under the circumstances of our son's life and his death, he was secure, fastened to the Rock, and was then in no need of any other aid.

David also said, "It hurts," and a few moments later, "Charlie, you go down." Then he said, "I'm thirsty. It's hard to breathe," and finally, "I'm sleepy."

David bled to death, and from the nature of his injuries as well as from the symptoms David mentioned, the time could not have been long.

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Another account:

New Hampshire, Cannon Mt. On 28 April David Koop (20) and Charles Eriksson (20) were climbing Sam’s Swan Song on Cannon Cliff. They had reached the last significant pitch and were slightly off to the left of the usual route. Koop was 40 feet above Eriksson. He had driven in a large angle piton into a crack below a block. He had clipped in with a Bedayan carabiner, with a double sling, and then a second Bedayan to his rope. He had reached up around and over this block and was driving in a second piton into a crack unconnected with the block (the second was noted to be still in place by evacuation party). The block commenced to slide out. It pulled him off and completely smashed his left leg at the knee joint. He fell approximately 60 feet and was held by his belayer. He suffered head injuries during his fall despite his hard hat. Death occurred rapidly due to exsanguination from the severed major artery in his leg. His belayer secured him, climbed down to him, noted he was dead, and then rappelled off the cliff for help.

Evacuation of the body was delayed by strong winds for a day.

Source: W. L. Putnam.

Analysis: The two climbers were well equipped to handle the climb. They had had considerable previous experience. Their being slightly off the usual route is important only in that they found a loose block which could have occurred on the regular route. Frost action on this cliff is severe and rocks are continuously being loosened as demonstrated by the extensive talus slope. The belayer deserves credit for holding the fall and getting himself off the cliff. In view of the injury, it does not seem that additional protective pitons would have altered the result.

 

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