A young Australian widow has shared the heartbreaking moment she saw her husband fall off a cliff during a climbing accident in Canada.
Emma Heritage watched from a few metres away as her husband Daniel, 28, lost his footing and slipped off a mountain in Banff National Park on October 5, 2022.
The Adelaide couple had embarked on the trip of a lifetime when Daniel fell during a climbing expedition in the Canadian Rookies.
Ms Heritage said she felt the rope connecting them suddenly go slack, prompting her to turn around and see Daniel fall.
“He landed close to where I was, it just happened, he didn’t scream or make any noise,” the devastated widow told The Advertiser.
Ms Heritage said there was “a lot” of blood coming out of Daniel’s mouth and he I lost consciousness very quickly after the fall.
She was able to call emergency services from where she was and stayed with her husband until paramedics arrived.
Ms. Heritage said she knew Daniel was dead when first responders announced they planned to get her down the mountain before him.
Adelaide resident Emma Heritage (left) has spoken for the first time about the horrific moment her husband Daniel (right) fell while climbing a rock as part of the Canadian Rookies.
Ms Heritage witnessed the horrific moment Daniel (pictured) slipped and fell off a cliff
“I think it was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments for me because I had to walk away from him,” she said.
Ms Heritage must have relived the trauma in the days following the accident because the coroner relied on her account as the only witness.
The coroner’s report was to exclude ““criminal act” in particular.
To top it all off, Ms Heritage discovered their travel insurance did not cover accidental death, meaning she would need tens of thousands of dollars to get Daniel’s body back to Australia.
She said her “biggest worry” was getting her husband back to his family, but without a $12,000 deposit, no funeral home would accept him.
Fortunately, Mr. Heritage’s mother was able to post bail immediately.
Ms Heritage (right) said she knew Daniel (left) was dead when first responders said they planned to get her off the cliff before him.
Mrs Heritage had to pay $8,000 for her husband’s return to Adelaide and a further $15,000 for his funeral.
Her twin sister, Jessica, raised $42,830 of the $50,000 needed to fund the arrangements through a GoFundMe campaign.
“The death was very traumatic for Emma as she witnessed the accident and held him as he died,” Jessica wrote at the time.
‘Please continue to pray for Emma and our families as we navigate this lifelong loss.
When Mrs Heritage was finally able to fly back to Australia, she felt torn about leaving the place where she had last seen her husband alive.
Ms Heritage said she returned to the place where it happened in 2023 and was left frustrated and confused about how her husband could have died there.
She returned to the exact spot where Daniel died in 2023 and even climbed back up the same cliff to try to figure out how he lost his footing.
“I climbed up to where it happened. I thought it would be very emotional and I would be a pool of tears, but it was actually frustration that I felt when I climbed up above where he fell,” Ms Heritage said.
She explained that the frustration came from not being able to understand why Daniel had fallen when the climb was right up to their level.
Ms Heritage has since tried to stop focusing on how the tragedy happened, saying she has accepted his death and will simply continue to miss him.