PROVO, Utah — An Arizona boy is being remembered for his sense of adventure after a fatal fall into a Utah river on Saturday.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office (UCSO) said the boy died after he fell into the Provo River and got swept several miles downstream.
The family identified the boy as 12-year-old Finnley Udall in a Facebook post.
"My sweet, tender, tenacious, crazy, handsome, and caring Finnley left us, his family on this Earth behind, to go to a new and heavenly adventure," Lyndsay Udall said.
Lyndsay Udall said the family was hiking at Bridal Veil Falls, about an hour southeast of Salt Lake City, when the accident happened.
No one saw Finnley Udall fall into the river, but several people witnessed him being swept away.
"Once I heard someone say that a child was in the water, I immediately knew it was him," Udall said. "I started running and yelling that my baby had fallen into to river in an attempt to get help."
First responders and witnesses immediately tried to rescue the boy, but the conditions of the water made it difficult.
“The water was way too high; the river was going way too fast," Jorge Rojas, a witness told KSL, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City. “When I did see him, he was face down going in headfirst and so I immediately was panicked, and we all started screaming.”
Lyndsay Udall said Finnley Udall was in the water for more than an hour.
A UCSO sergeant told KSL that a firefighter caught the boy about four miles downstream, but a rope used to get the pair out of the water slipped from another crew member's hands.
“As he was holding that rope, it burned through his hand," Sgt. Garrett Dutson said.
Crews eventually rescued Finnley Udall, but he died at the hospital.
“One thing to hear it and one thing to see it in person. It’s definitely a different experience and you definitely feel the emotion and the remorse for the person but for their family as well," Rojas said.
The Udall family said their lives will never be the same without Finnley Udall.
"He died how he lived, just skating on the edge of danger and loving every minute of it," Lyndsay Udall said.
Lyndsay Udall thanked the first responders who risked their lives and the strangers who became "personal angels" and offered support along the river.
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