The hiker who was killed when a tree fell on his hammock while scuming on a camp trip has identified as a 22 -year -old senior from the University of Alabama.
Malachi Crain was in a remote section of the Georgia Chattahochee National Forest when an old tree collapsed about him around 2 in the morning on Saturday, killing him, according to university officials and the first to respond.
He was camping with three friends, all the members of the Alabama Catholic Campus, and another of them suffered minor injuries, Chordination to Father Tom Ackerman of the Parish of San Francisco de Asís.
“What I tell people is that the fullness of life is not measured by the duration of the years, but the love with which they lived their life,” Father Ackerman told WBRC through tears. “According to that measure, Malachi lived a full life.”
Crain was an aspiring software engineer who specialized in computer science and mathematics, according to its website. He prepared to graduate with a mastery in May 2026.
Greenville’s native, South Carolina, was also an altar server in St. Francis. “It was our vice president of our liturgy for our student masses. He helped organize different ministers, trained them and things like that,” said Father Ackerman.
“It was obvious that he loved God, he loved his classmates and also great love in his family.”
The search and rescue team of the Fannin County Fire Department (SAR) jumped to action when they received a call on a caravan that did not respond trapped under a tree in “a remote and difficult location to access” the forest.
A father and a daughter who camped nearby listened to the screams of the students for help and hastened, according to the Emergency Management Agency of Fannin County.
They remained with them in the five hours of crews to reach them by helicopter.
The camp was more than four miles from the closest path, and the crews had to go to the rough ground in the dark, officials said.
Crain was declared dead on the scene.
After emergency teams arrived, the father and daughter went out with the two non -injured campers to return to their vehicle.
A helicopter from the Naturces department of Georgia safely extracted the injured hiker and Cain’s body.
