Idaho woman died of heat stroke while hiking near Arrowrock Reservoir last week
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story inaccurately stated that the group had been on another hike the same day. The story has been updated.
A Nampa woman died last week after she became overheated while hiking near Arrowrock Reservoir, according to the Boise County Coroner’s Office.
Kerri Van de Wetering, 52, was hiking with friends Friday afternoon when she became dizzy, felt faint and collapsed, said Verline Gullick, deputy coroner for Boise County, in a phone interview. It was roughly 3:30 p.m. and the temperature was about 95 degrees at the time.
Paramedics responded to the scene but were unable to revive Van de Wetering. An Air St. Luke’s team later pronounced Van de Wetering dead at the scene. Her death has been ruled an accidental cardiac arrest due to hyperthermia, or heat stroke.
Heat stroke can occur when a person exercises vigorously in the heat, and it’s exacerbated by dehydration. The day after Van de Wetering’s death, the Boise County Office of Emergency Management shared a warning on its Facebook page about heat injuries, adding that anyone who has experienced a heat illness before is more susceptible to another event in the future.
Friends said Van de Wetering and her group were hiking Mount Heinen, one of the Boise area’s “Grand Slam” peaks, which a quartet of challenging trails to mountain summits east of town.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
