A mother and father have ensured their son’s survival at the cost of their own, giving their nine-year-old all their water on a fatal desert trek.
French couple David and Ornella Steiner and their nine-year-old son Enzo were trekking the Alkali Flat Trail at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico when temperatures soared above 40 degrees.
Feeling unwell, Ornella, 51, turned back to the car 2.5km into the hike, leaving David, 42, and their son to go on alone, David increasingly delirious because of the heat.
Ornella collapsed and died from dehydration after just 100 metres.
Her body was found by rangers who, curious as to why she was walking alone in the midday heat, checked her mobile and found photos of Enzo at the park’s entrance.
Rangers mounted an extensive search for the boy and found him a little over an hour later, lying next to the body of his father.
“He wasn’t crying, but he was dehydrated and, of course, he was upset,” Otero County Sheriff Benny House said.
House said Enzo survived because his parents gave him most of their water.
“I don’t think they were prepared for the heat,” House said. “I think they just thought it was a trail and they would walk it.
“It’s just a tragedy.”
Enzo is in a stable condition in hospital, where he is being treated for dehydration and heat exhaustion.
