Hood River doctor remembered as adoring husband, father and compassionate surgeon
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HOOD RIVER, OR (KPTV) — A beloved husband, a doting father, and a kind, compassionate and skilled surgeon. Those are just some of the ways a 47-year-old Hood River man is being remembered after he died Tuesday in a ski accident on Mt. Hood.
It was supposed to be a day of celebration – Cory Johnston died on his birthday.
“He’d gotten the day off,” said Johnston’s friend and neighbor Jan Veldhuisen Virk. “It was his birthday and he loved the mountains.”
Veldhuisen Virk said Johnston was an incredible athlete.
“He was a mountain biker, a trail runner, and he was an amazing skier and climber,” Veldhuisen Virk.
As to what went wrong on Mt. Hood, Veldhuisen Virk said she doesn’t know how the accident happened. She said it was simply a tragedy and Johnston spent his final hours doing something he loved.
His family and friends planned to shower him with love afterward.
“I l know he was planning on being home that evening because we were going to throw him a surprise birthday party for him that night,” Veldhuisen Virk said.
It was climbers who found Johnston badly hurt high up on the Mt. Hood in an area known as Illumination Saddle. Johnston died before rescuers could get him off the mountain.
Johnston worked in general surgery at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital. It’s been an incredibly difficult day for staff.
“He was an integral part of our incredible general surgery team we have,” said hospital Public Relations Director Susan Frost.
“His patients love him,” Frost added. “They would talk about how approachable he was.”
Veldhuisen Virk said Johnston adored his wife and two children, ages 3 and 5.
“The most important way that I would describe Cory is as a father and as a husband,” Veldhuisen Virk said. “He was deeply devoted to his wife Pippa and their two little boys.”
“He was a lovely man and I will truly miss him,” Veldhuisen Virk said.
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