French Couple Die Hiking New Mexico Desert, Son is the Only Survivor

A French Couple from a Paris suburb fell in love with the American West after their first trip to the region and they had been planning their second adventure for almost a year, but unfortunately the trip ended in tragedy. 51-year-old Ornella Steiner and 42-year-old David Steiner have passed away due to heat-related illness, leaving their 9-year-old as the only survivor.

The tragedy took place near White Sand National Monument in New Mexico, where the heat often reaches up to 100 degrees in the desert during summer. Visitors are advised to drink a gallon of water a day in order to prevent heat-related illnesses, CNN reported.

According to the superintendent of the White Sands National Monument, Marie Sauter, who talked to CNN, park service employees found the mother and she was already dead at the time of the discovery. During the hike, Ornella Steiner started feeling unwell and was trying to return to the car when she passed away, but the father and the son kept walking without knowing what really happened to the mother.

Soon after they left the mother, the heat and dehydration hit the father harder, which left him delirious and eventually killed him. Surprisingly, the boy had survived even though he was dehydrated.

Authorities have taken the boy to the nearest hospital and with the help of an interpreter, the child was able to tell exactly what happened on the trail. He said his parents made him drink two sips of the water they had as the parents only took one sip each until they had no more water left. It seems that parents sacrifice saved the little boy's life. Otero County Sheriff Benny House said that the boy wasn't crying when they found him but he was dehydrated and upset, CNN reported.

House also added: "None of us want to ever see an incident like this, so we just try to arm the visitors as best as possible so they can make good decisions for themselves and their families for their visit. It was the perfect storm for this family. They started off the trek with two 20-ounce bottles of water. When we got there, there was no water left in the bottles. I think they weren't prepared for that type of heat. I just think they underestimated the desert," reported by CNN.