A San Diego software engineer has died three days after falling about 20 feet during rock climbing in the San Bernardino Mountains. He leaves behind his wife, who is eight weeks pregnant.
On July 12, around 5:30 p.m., Andrew “Andy” Paul Ferrarone, 33, fell from a rocky area within the Castle Rock Trail area. According to a spokeswoman from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, “the man fell down a rocky slope and suffered head trauma.” CPR was administered to him as he was airlifted by a rescue helicopter to a trauma center.
Ferrarone died after three days at the hospital following being put on life support, according to the information provided by the sheriff’s department and coroner’s officials.
An experienced climber in the North Park neighborhood with over ten years of climbing experience, Ferrarone fell from a ledge after completing one climb and preparing for another, according to a report by KGTV, citing statements his father and friends said his wife gave them.
Ferrarone’s wife, Nina, was underneath him when he fell. “He fell at his wife’s feet,” stated his father, Paul Ferrarone. Nina, a flight attendant trained in CPR, performed chest compressions on him for almost half an hour before her husband was airlifted from there. He never regained consciousness.
According to Fox 11 Los Angeles, Ferrarone worked as a software engineer and co-owned a company named Sierra Space Agency. His father describes him as a careful climber who treated the sport with care.
Born and raised in Georgia, Ferrarone moved to San Francisco in his 20s, where he lived with his friends, met Nina, and they married after some time, as per a report by Fox 11 Los Angeles, citing his obituary and his family’s fundraising page.
Since Nina quit her job after learning about her pregnancy, her current challenge is preparing for parenthood alone, according to information on a GoFundMe page cited by KTLA. This fundraising campaign aims to cover Ferrarone’s medical expenses during his stay on life support, rent for their San Diego house, and supplies for the first year of her motherhood.
As of July 29, the campaign had collected over $57,000.
