John Whatmough died while trying to save his 2-year-old son. According to an article in the Nashua Telegraph, John, 32, at the time was killed in Colorado while on vacation with his wife and son in Rocky Mountain National Park.

According to a park spokeswoman quoted in the article, John and his wife had stopped at the an overlook above Chasm Falls to take photographs. THey left their son strapped into a car seat in the car when it began rolling toward the edge of a steep rocky embankment. In an attempt to save his son, John grabbed onto the car door but the car continued to roll backward, taking John with it. It landed on some boulders 25 feet down the embankment. John was killed instantly but his son was safe and sound inside the car.