Family: British climber injured at Yosemite is recovering

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – A British climber who was injured last week by falling rock in Yosemite National Park that killed her husband is recovering, her family said Thursday.

Lucy Foster will return home to the United Kingdom once the hospital’s trauma team clears her, the family said in a statement.

Lucy Foster and her husband, Andrew, were at the foot of El Capitan on Sept. 27 when a giant slab of granite about 12 stories tall broke free and plunged down.

An avid climber, Andrew Foster, 32, had returned to Yosemite several times over the years to climb and explore. Witnesses saw him running back to protect his wife, and he died while shielding her, his family said.

“While our loss is indescribable, we are so proud of our brave boy in saving Lucy,” they added.

The couple lived in Cardiff, Wales, and described their love of the outdoors in a blog, Cam and Bear.

The following day, there was a second massive rock fall in El Capitan, a 3,600-foot granite monolith. A Florida man who was driving out of the park was injured in that fall when a rock shattered the sunroof of his SUV and hit him in the head.

Park geologist Greg Stock said Yosemite typically sees about 80 rock falls a year but that hasn’t deterred climbers who flock to the famed rock formation from around the world.