SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A 32-year-old Utah paraglider has died after crashing over the weekend.
Eric Hill died in the hospital Wednesday morning, said University of Utah Health Care spokeswoman Marissa Villaseñor. He had slammed into a hillside Sunday afternoon after barely lifting off from a steep rock bench in Draper known as Point of the Mountain, said Unified Fire Authority spokesman Brian Anderton.
Hill, a California native, was about a quarter of the way through a journey to visit 200 countries in three years, said Kenny Eliason, the spokesman for Hill’s trek, called the “Global Odyssey.”
Hill’s parachute collapsed when he was hovering 10 feet to 15 feet above the ground, swinging as if on a pendulum, Anderton said. He was wearing a helmet when he crashed.
Phone messages left by The Associated Press for Hill’s family were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Hill was from Citrus Heights, Calif., and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Brigham Young University, his brother Brian Hill told The Salt Lake Tribune. Brian Hill said his brother lived in Salt Lake City.
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