LA GRANDE, Ore.- A group of Grande Ronde River rafters were camping along the bank when a large, dead treetop fell onto two tents with campers in them.
A local Kennewick man, Cory Peppard was killed after part of a tree fell on him when we were out rafting on the Grand Ronde River with friends.
His friends and those who rescued him talk about the event and the type of man he was.
Karl Kincheon lives in Texas but has been a long-time friend of Peppard’s going all the way back to the 1980s serving in the Marines together.
“It was devastating because just knowing the type of person Cory was and then to see what others had to say, it literally mirrored everything I felt about him,” said Kincheon.
Cory Peppard loved to be outside and had a passion for rafting. Peppard who was a nurse anesthesiologist at Trios, set out on a five-day rafting trip in Oregon with some friends the week of June 12th and at 5:30 am on Wednesday — June 14th. Union County dispatcher Carrie Weissert received a call for help.
“We received it from Garmin International,” said Weissert. “Somebody in the party had a device that was able to signal their location.”
Kyle Tucker with Union County Search and Rescue says it took them roughly three hours to get to their location on the Grand Ronde River.
“There was an entire pile of tents and sleeping bags,” said Tucker. “It was obvious the group had a lot to deal with.”
One of the people with Peppard the night of the accident, says the top of a dead tree fell on their campsite while they were sleeping.
Tucker says the other two people who were injured at the time of the accident had to be airlifted to get medical care. Tucker says the helicopter had to land a mile and a half away. Search and Rescue took the injured to the landing zone.
Kincheon says Peppard had these little quirks about him.
“The guy with a quick wit with a big heart,” says Kincheon. “A guy that was always going to smile and would make you laugh. The guy was so cool, he was just a cool dude.”
According to Kincheon, after the Marines, Peppard went to college and got a nursing degree and eventually became a flight nurse in the Air Force before a medical condition forced him to stop.
Peppard didn’t let that stop him and expanded his nursing knowledge at North Florida University as he earned another degree this time a nurse anesthesia degree.
Kincheon says he will never forget Peppard.
“I have a picture of him kicked back with his feet up on his kayak,” said Kincheon. “I have the picture that he and I took while I was on my 48-state bike ride and they’ll say up there for a while. I just want to remember my buddy, my partner.”
I spoke to one of Peppard’s friends who was on the rafting trip with him who says he was loved by everyone and echoed Kincheon’s statement about Peppard’s big heart.
