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Blue Ridge Parkway visitor died near Graveyard Fields, National Park Service says
A South Carolina man visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway on July 13 has died, according to the National Park Service.
Blue Ridge Parkway dispatchers received a report of a park visitor in medical distress within a mile of the Graveyard Fields Overlook Trailhead, according to a July 14 news release from NPS. Rangers with the park service, along with Haywood County emergency personnel, responded and found Muhammad Sultan, 58, experiencing "medical complications," which led to CPR being performed on site, the release said.
The Columbia, South Carolina-man was pronounced deceased enroute to Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, according to the news statement. The agency said no other details are available at this time.
Earlier this year, a hiker, identified as Jie Huang, 40, of Plymouth, North Carolina, died April 18 after falling into waters along the parkway, the Citizen Times reported. Huang was hiking along the Boone Fork Trail near Price Lake at Milepost 297, about 85 miles northeast of Asheville, when he fell into waters adjacent to the trail.
In June, a North Carolina motorcyclist died nearly two weeks after he collided with a deer on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Woolwine, Virginia, according to the National Park Service.
The parkway is one of the most visited units of the National Park Service, drawing more than 16.7 million visitors in 2024. After Tropical Storm Helene struck Western North Carolina in late September, large sections of the roadway in North Carolina remain closed due to severe damage. As summer quickly approaches, more areas are expected to open for travel and recreation over the summer and into fall.
Ryley Ober contributed.
This story will be updated.
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Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Blue Ridge Parkway visitor from SC dies near Graveyard Fields
