A day-trip to Santa Cruz Island turned tragic for a 22-year-old Santa Barbara City College student on Saturday, May 8, when Trevor Brent Correia fell off a cliff overlooking Potato Harbor and died from his injuries. He had been hiking in the area with seven friends, including his girlfriend, when the fall occurred; alcohol is being investigated as a possible factor in the accident.
Correia, who was originally from San Diego County, fell off a 60-foot precipice but landed on a ledge 200 feet above the water, where two friends, ranger Randy Nelson, and two other park employees responded around 2:30 p.m. At that point, Correia was unresponsive and unconscious but still barely breathing. A helicopter arrived with paramedics, but Correia’s condition deteriorated, and CPR was started. The helicopter then took Correia from the ledge to St. John’s Hospital in Oxnard, where he was pronounced dead upon his 4:30 p.m. arrival.
The group of friends later learned of Correia’s death, as did his family on Saturday.