CALIFORNIA – Tragedy struck over the weekend as a young news producer from California died following an incident involving a prohibited rope swing. The employer, NBC affiliate KCRA-TV, confirmed the accident.
Katie Hoedt, a 23-year-old morning producer, lost her life after an unfortunate mishap on a rope swing at Folsom Lake on Saturday. According to Barry Smith, the chief ranger of the Gold Fields District within California State Parks, Hoedt fell around 30 feet from the rope swing and landed on rocky terrain near the water.
Smith noted that the area where Hoedt was engaging in the activity does not permit rope swings due to the significant risk they pose. He emphasized the “extremely dangerous” nature of that location.
“You don’t know who put the rope swing up. You don’t know how strong that is,” said Smith. “Anything can give out.”
Witnesses at the scene carried Hoedt to a boat ramp, where an off-duty doctor gave her CPR. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance where she later died.
“I can’t believe it’s real, you know, she was such a bright light,” Hoedt’s mother, Beth, told KCRA. “Today, I tried to get some work done, and it was really, really hard because I knew Katie’s never going to be calling me again, and it’s going to be just something that I’m never going to get used to.”
KCRA wrote in a tribute; “Her coworkers universally said she was one of the nicest people they ever worked with.”
