reporter: five members of the same family, all crushed under boulders the size of cars. the only survivor, 13-year-old gracy faith johnson, her leg broken, but pulled out alive by a first responder. he didn t see gracie at first, but he heard somebody screaming, was able to start digging. reporter: gracie s miraculous survival celebrated at this high school as they mourned the lost. dwayne johnson, an electrician, coached football part-time, his wife donna waited tables at two restaurants to support her family and helped coach the track team, gracie s sister was a senior here and the johnson s two nephews were visiting from missouri. the family decided to go hiking monday morning on this popular trail recommended in guide books for children. the sheriff s department says recent heavy rain and freezing temperatures loosened the massive boulders and triggered the slide.
the reason gracie is alive? her father saw the boulders coming. gracie told the rescue and deputy her father shielded her from the boulders and pushed her out of the way. doesn t surprise me one bit. dwayne, he would have been there for you and not only you. if you d have been close enough to him and he saw that coming, he would have done the same thing for you. reporter: a final act of father hood cherished by a child and a community. cnn, buena vista, colorado. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends.
broken, but pulled out alive by a first responder. he didn t see gracie at first, he heard somebody screaming and he was able to start digging. reporter: gracie s miraculous survival celebrated at this high school as they mourned the lost. dwayne johnson, an leb transition, coached football part time. his wife donna waited tables at two restaurants to support her family and helped coach the track team. gracie s sister was a senior here. and the johnson s two nephews, paris and beigen were visiting from missouri. the family decided to go hiking on this popular trail recommended in guide books for children. the sheriffs said the recent heavy rains loosened the boulders. the reason gracie is alive, her father saw the boulders coming. gracie told the deputy is that her father shielded her from boulders and pushed her out