Family would like to thank anonymous ‘guardian angel’ who came to the rescue

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    ASHEVILLE, NC (WLOS) — The search is on for a “guardian angel” who helped a tourist from Arkansas during an accident in the mountains.

Robert and Jan Parsons were visiting Soco Falls in Jackson County on Thursday when Robert slipped and fell some 40 feet from a mountain trail.

Angel Cuffel, Robert’s daughter, described the scene she witnessed that day.

“My dad was in front of my mom,” she said from her office back home in Little Rock.

Cuffel said her parents stopped to snap some photos of the picturesque waterfalls, but their sightseeing was cut short.

“My mom stopped to take pictures from where she was, and she turned around and he was gone,” she said.

Robert tripped and tumbled off the trail, rolled over rough terrain, finally stopping near a creek.

Video shot by Jan Parsons shows her 72-year-old husband being pulled up by first responders. She also captured an image of a young woman who rushed to help, before emergency crews even got to the scene.

“Mom said she didn’t hesitate,” Cuffel said. “She just took off, and she went all the way down that trail, back up that creek and climbed up that ridge to be with a man she’d never met.”

Cuffel said the woman just stayed with her dad, comforted him and waited for help to arrive. In short, she said the woman went way above and beyond.

“Anything could’ve happened,” Cuffel remarked. “She could’ve slipped, she could’ve had trouble getting to my dad. She didn’t. She was just there, and God was with her, and it’s just a blessing.”

For Cuffel, the picture they were able to capture of the mysterious woman says it all.

“I’m a daddy’s girl, and I see her, and I see so much life, and you see so much care just in her eyes,” she said. “I mean, it was a selfless act what she did.”

Cuffel said she just had one simple wish.

“My name’s Angel Cuffel and we just, we want to, I want to hear her voice, I want to hear that guardian angel’s voice.”

If you know who the woman is, contact News 13 at news@wlos.com.

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