JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS, Calif. — Authorities Tuesday publicly identified a 24-year-old man who was overcome by an unidentified fatal medical emergency last weekend while on a desert mountain-biking outing with friends in the southeastern reaches of San Diego County.
Kai Torres Bronson of Otay Mesa complained to his companions of feeling fatigued after they rode from a meeting point near Interstate 8 to Goat Canyon Trestle in the Carrizo Gorge area of the Jacumba Mountains on Saturday, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office.
He waited in that spot while one of his friends retrieved water for him, the agency reported. The pair then began their ride back to their initial meeting place, during which Torres Bronson collapsed several times, finally passing out on a stretch of railroad right-of-way at about 2:45 p.m.
In response to a 911 call from Torres Bronson's companion, paramedics arrived, began performing lifesaving measures and put the stricken biker into an ambulance. He was pronounced dead while being transported to an air ambulance, according to the county agency.
A ruling on Torres Bronson's cause of death remained on hold Tuesday pending completion of postmortem examinations.
According to Cal Fire, Torres Bronson's death happened after he and a group of other mountain bikers encountered four hikers who were without food and water.
Torres Bronson and another biker stayed behind with the hikers, while two other mountain bikers rode back to provide the group's location to emergency personnel, Cal Fire said. A Cal Fire helicopter was able to retrieve the hikers, but Torres Bronson and his companion attempted to continue their ride.
In a statement released a few hours after the hikers were rescued, Cal Fire said, "A huge thank you to the bystanders that were able to lead the firefighters and rescue helicopter in to where the patients were in this very rugged and remote area."
A GoFundMe page created to assist Torres Bronson's family called him "an amazing son, brother, friend, cousin, etc. who always put others first. In a very sudden and traumatic event, Kai lost his life while saving another."
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