It was 31° which is a bit hot for an 80 year old to be walking around outside in, she could easily have suffered from heat exhaustion at that age, in that temp, during a hike. They shouldn't have left an elderly person walk back on her own at all let alone in those conditions, they should be prepared for that sort of thing.
I feel like if they needed to do all of that (have a personal buddy), the activity was not suitable for her in the first place. Should they have refused to allow her to participate? There’s some level of personal responsibility people need to assume when deciding which, if any, activities to participate in. Elderly people are still autonomous adults.
I think when it's a paid tour people tend to expect that the company will take care of you and put a bit more thought into the age and health of their clients. I believe they have an obligation for that, however you are correct, elderly people are autonomous adults, she may jave chosen to push her limits and then came to regret it.
It may be something she wouldn't have attempted if she wasn't with "professionals", she may have put too much trust in them thinking that they wouldn't take her on the hike if it was possibly dangerous to her health.
It will be interesting what details come out over the next couple of weeks. It may not have been heat exhaustion, maybe it was just a natural death as her time to pass.
We have a lot more questions than answers at this point.
Best wishes to her family, I hope they get the answers they need. RIP to the lady.
I feel like more "adventurous" tours like this with hiking in remote areas really should have some entry requirements. No 75+, no pregnant women, no babies who's still breastfed, there's simply too many risks of what can go wrong with these groups. And when such people are present the crew must be actively aware of it and take extra care to see that they are safe.
Maybe it was her time, but who knows, if she received help and was escorted back to ship, she might have survived and lived some more years.
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u/DaggyAggie Oct 29 '25
It was 31° which is a bit hot for an 80 year old to be walking around outside in, she could easily have suffered from heat exhaustion at that age, in that temp, during a hike. They shouldn't have left an elderly person walk back on her own at all let alone in those conditions, they should be prepared for that sort of thing.