'He saved my life': Shropshire woman tells how husband died sheltering her in Yosemite rock fall tragedy
A woman from Shropshire has told how her husband died saving her life as they were crushed by falling rocks at Yosemite National Park in the US.
Andrew Foster, 32, was trapped when more than 1,000 tonnes of rock fell from the face of the El Capitan monolith on Wednesday.
Mr Foster and his wife Lucy, 28, originally from Market Drayton, are believed to have been scouting out the ascent from a trail when a “sheet” of granite around 40 by 20 metres plummeted from a height of 200 metres.
Relative Gillian Stephens told the Times that Mrs Foster said: “Andrew saved my life. He dived on top of me as soon as he could see what was going to happen. He saved my life.”
The couple, who lived in Cardiff, ran their own blog Cam and Bear in which they described their love of the outdoors.
“We are a young married couple who enjoy nothing more than getting out and having adventures in the mountains together,” they wrote.
“We are not extreme athletes and describe ourselves simply as passionate weekend warriors.”
Mr Foster had proposed to his wife, during a skiing holiday in the Alps in 2015 and they married the following year.
He grew up in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, before attending Cardiff University, and worked for clothing company Patagonia. He was previously employed by outdoor store Up and Under.
Staff at the Cardiff-based shop said in a statement: “Andy Foster was an inspirational member of the Up and Under family.
“He was a highly regarded member of staff for five years, before he took a job with Patagonia.
“He remained a dedicated friend of Up and Under, and was regularly to be found in the store. His passion for the outdoors, and mountains in particular, was enormous and infectious.
“Andy and Lucy’s intentions upon returning from Yosemite were, with the help of Andy’s father, to covert a van into a motorhome to enable them to explore the European Alps for the next 12 months.
“It was then our hope that Andy would return to Up and Under in a part time consultative role, whilst he also chased other ambitions.
“Andy was highly respected, loved and his loss will be sorely felt by us all.
“Our thoughts are with Lucy and his family.”
Friend Jess Spate wrote on Facebook said: “Rest in peace Andrew Foster. Always cheerful, never a mean word to say about anyone, up for anything, anytime.
“Never so much as a cross word even when he must have been as cold and tired as it’s possible to be while still walking.
“There’s nobody I’d rather climb a rapidly thawing frozen waterfall with at 2am on a work night.
“Nobody better to play hangman with at midnight in Cardiff City Hall, waiting to impersonate beautiful female ninjas. Nobody better to be topping out of a mountain route with when the weather turned.”
