Since Shnugs will be covering the Bachelorette when it airs this summer, I thought it was important to let the Bachelorette fans know that a contestant, Eric Hill, who took part in the upcoming season has died.
Eric Hill — who recently filmed the upcoming season of ABC’s reality show — suffered critical injuries on Sunday afternoon after his parachute collapsed, KUTV in Salt Lake City reported, citing Unified Fire Authority battalion chief Brian Anderton. He went into a coma and was taken to a hospital.
The incident, which occurred near Point of the Mountain in Draper, Utah, was not a part of filming the ABC reality series but happened after he reportedly had already been eliminated from the series. (The upcoming season is still in production.)
Hill’s sister wrote on his Facebook:
Eric shared his final journey with us this morning as all his immediate family were able to be at his side when he passed away. Thank you to all of your love and support and prayers and fasting. It was amazing to be with so many of his friends and family yesterday in the hospital who came to express their love for Eric. He gave us such a gift of a life fully lived and fully shared, and allowed us all to be a part of his last adventure here on earth. It is hard to think of life without his bright spark, but we know he is on to new adventures. We look forward to carrying on his legacy here and greeting him joyfully again someday. I love you so much, little brother!
Hill was found unconscious but breathing 100 to 150 feet up the mountain. He didn’t fall a great distance, but hit the mountain at a great speed.
“He experienced a partial parachute collapse, which swung him into the mountainside with some velocity,” Anderton told KUTV. “It doesn’t seem like he fell an extremely long distance, but the velocity that he went into the hillside was enough to cause some trauma.”
No word from ABC on how they will handle his death. I would imagine they’ll leave his scenes in, with a dedication at the top of the show. It doesn’t like he was a part of the competition for very long.
The new season of the Bachelorette begins–with Andi Dorfmann from the Bachelor looking for love–on Monday May 19.
