December 8, 2006 7:55 pm

Remembering James Kim

:note: MST3K DVD

Many of you have probably heard about the James Kim story, especially if you are in Oregon.

The Kim family took a wrong turn while driving in bad weather and ended up stranded in the snow. They attempted to keep warm by burning tires and had to live off of jelly, baby food, and bottled water. When the food ran out, Kati Kim breastfed her daughters to keep them alive. After a week, James Kim set off on foot to look for help while his wife and two young daughters stayed behind in the car.

Kati and the little girls were rescued on Monday, and in a cruel twist of fate, James’s body was found on Wednesday.

This whole story makes me incredibly, incredibly sad. I can’t imagine how scared the whole family must have been, and what James must have been thinking during his ten-mile trek through the snow, or what his four-year-old daughter, Penelope, was talking about while he was gone. The whole thing is so tragic and heartbreaking.

It’s the sort of thing you hear about in movies – the father sets out in bad weather to save his wife and kids, and dies so that they might live. It’s the sort of thing you think, “What would I do in that situation?” The sort of thing you never expect to happen to you.

If this story has touched you, and you would like to help out the family, please visit jamesandkati.com. I’ll be thinking about them this holiday season.

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5 Comments

  • Nicole says:

    Yeah, this was a really depressing story. It is sad that they were stuck for so long.

    On a happier note…..
    Congratz on graduation next week! I am going to try to come, but its hard to drag Craig out of the house and back to school after finals :)

    Our last final is Wednesday, so hopefully that will be enough recoop time.

  • Meagan says:

    I’ve been following this story too and for some reason this one really hits home for me too. I can see my own dad doing what James Kim did, I’m sure you can too, and I think that really drills it into my heart. I cried watching the Today show Thursday morning.

    Can’t wait to see you soon, and I’m glad someone else felt this story so deeply.

  • Melissa says:

    Oh my gosh. I read the article you linked. That is so incredibly sad. This is such a terrible tragedy. Thank you for sharing. I hadn’t heard about it in the news.

  • Elea says:

    Some of my friends knew him personally, and so not only do I feel for him and his family, but his friends too…

  • i, too, was terribly saddened- i have a couple of friends who remind me of the kim family- young, beautiful, motivated, 2 daughters (one named sabyne)… all together too much a reminder that this can happen to anyone…