By RITA DELFINER, AP
June 13, 2008
A hiker caught in a freak blizzard high on Washington's Mount Rainier lay down in a trench dug into the snow so the heat of his body would shield his wife from the 70-mph winds - and lost his own life.
Eduard Burceag, 31, a Seattle software engineer and father of two young boys, died Tuesday. His wife, Mariana Burceag, 31, and the couple's friend, Daniel Vlad, survived.
"He basically sacrificed his life for his wife," David Gottlieb, Mount Rainier's lead climbing ranger, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
"Imagine you're laying in the snow. It drains you," he said on the day rangers brought Burceag's body down.
It was a heartbreaking conclusion to a day hike Monday that turned treacherous when the three were buffeted by the furious weather as they headed down.
Burceag was an experienced mountaineer, and he and Vlad, both natives of Romania, had reached Rainier's summit two years ago, the newspaper said.
As the blizzard lashed the slopes, the three worked together to dig a trench in the snow. Burceag then lay on the ground, with his wife sandwiched between him and Vlad, Gottlieb said.
He refused to move despite their pleas, the ranger said.
Tuesday morning, Vlad struggled through 5-foot drifts to reach Camp Muir, a staging area, and led rangers back to the trench. The three hikers were taken back to the camp, where Burceag died without regaining consciousness.
Helicopters took the two survivors off the mountain Wednesday morning. They were treated for frostbite at a Seattle hospital and released.
The tragic hero's brother, Cristian Burceag, told The Seattle Times that Eduard moved to the United States eight years ago and fell in love with Seattle, its mountains and its opportunities.
"I can't find words about him," Burceag said in a phone interview from Romania. "When he left for America, he took his life in his hands and made a great career."
Cristian Burceag said their mother was visiting Eduard and babysat his sons while he and Mariana hiked. He said he was not surprised his brother died protecting his wife from the blizzard.
"He was a hero for us," Cristian told the newspaper. "I'm sure he would do that. He knew very well that his children needed a lot of their mother and that was the main thing in his life."
