A beloved rugby participant who’d moved from the Midwest to work as a nurse in Northern California died in what has been described as a horrific freak accident.
Bjorn “Bear” Miller, 37, from Yukon, Oklahoma, is believed to have stumbled and fallen from the cliffs at a picturesque spot as he left his automotive to look at the sundown in Bayview Street, Fort Bragg.
First responders discovered Miller’s physique sprawled on rocks close to the waterline, roughly 70 toes beneath a steep cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at about 8.30am within the morning, together with his automotive parked close by.
Authorities mentioned his accidents had been per a big fall.
His physique was found by Josh Brown and his younger son, who initially didn’t notice what they’d stumbled throughout.
Millar might have parked his Jeep too near the sting in an space with no guardrail for cover, Brown instructed the The Mendocino Coast Information.
“I believe he may need thought there was extra room on the edge, acquired out, and walked round to the passenger aspect of his door. I consider that’s when he fell. He most likely knocked himself unconscious, and if the tide was excessive, that may have been sufficient to kill him,” Brown instructed the outlet.
Miller’s brother, Kelton, mentioned police had instructed the household he was the sufferer of a freak accident, he instructed KOKO Information.
”We consider, primarily based on talking with the sheriffs and primarily based on what I’ve seen of images and the world, that he had simply out and walked round and fallen off,” his brother Kelton Miller instructed the outlet.
Miller had been working as a touring nurse in California earlier than he died.
In Oklahoma, the rugby neighborhood has felt his loss deeply, as he was an essential a part of the group each on and off the sector.
Family and friends recall Miller’s affect prolonged past the sport, stepping in wherever wanted.
“He all the time put different individuals’s wants above his personal,” added Kelton.
“Whether or not he was teaching, taking part in—he was the man who can be the medic, the referee,” mentioned Brendan Berry, a good friend of Bjorn.
A GoFundMe marketing campaign launched to honor his life and legacy and pay for his funeral remembered him as a ”fiercely loyal teammate and larger-than-life presence who handled everybody like household, usually internet hosting pals and kinfolk for meals and bringing laughter wherever he went.”
“Bjorn ‘Bear’ Miller was greater than a son, a brother, and a teammate—he was a protector, a healer, a pacesetter, and a real cornerstone of his neighborhood,” the web page reads.
“As among the finest props to ever play the sport, he carried not solely energy however coronary heart, grit, and satisfaction each time he stepped onto the sector. Off the sector, he was simply as highly effective—lifting individuals up, bringing laughter into each area, and making everybody really feel seen, valued, and at dwelling.”
Plans are underway for a memorial rugby match in his honor, with an open invitation prolonged to your entire neighborhood.
“Anyone and all people is invited. That’s 100% the best way Bear would love it. Should you’ve by no means performed rugby earlier than or you’ve got performed, you’re greater than welcome to return out.
‘It’s a type of occasions the place we simply need individuals to return collectively,” Berry mentioned.
