When Gabe Reilly was in fourth or fifth grade, his father Dan Reilly remembers, he had shameless ambition as he worked to raise money to attend ski camp.
Armed with his guitar and characteristic charm, Dan said Gabe moved from houseboat to houseboat at Lake Powell, performing for whoever would listen and asking for donations.
“He just had a fantastic personality, and was not shy to perform,” Dan Reilly said.
The story was just one of many Dan and his wife Nicole shared about their 27-year-old son Gabe, who died Sept. 27 in a BASE jumping accident near Cache County’s Millville Canyon.
The county sheriff’s office said “something went wrong,” and he did not get enough lift with his wingsuit.
Remembering their son, his parents stressed his love of music, people and a vast array of sports.
“He’s incredibly kind and compassionate and loved to live life to the fullest, and he did,” his father said. “He was always on the move, traveling around the world to skydive and wingsuit BASE jump and paraglide, and he truly loved to fly.”
Gabe Reilly was one of three triplets born in Eugene, Oregon. The family moved to Park City, his dad said, where Gabe graduated high school before going on to earn his bachelor’s from the University of Utah.
Though Gabe once had aspirations of being a doctor, he instead followed his father’s footsteps, becoming a firefighter and paramedic with the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
“We had talked medical stuff for years and years, and he was interested in flying for AirMed like I did,” Dan said. “That was one of his goals that was certainly going to happen.”
Nicole Reilly remembered how driven her son was, and how he “maximized every day.”
“He’s my son — I’m going to miss everything about him,” she said. “He really is a model and an example of joy for life. … He really was just high on life.”
‘I owe Gabe everything’
On July 7, 2021, professional skydiving instructor Becca Critchfield crash-landed in Tooele, where she and Gabe worked for a skydiving school.
Critchfield, who has more than 7,000 skydives under her belt, said the intense heat of the day caused her parachute to sink faster than it otherwise would have.
She doesn’t remember the touchdown that broke her neck and left her quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator. But based on doctors’ analysis of her injuries, the stories she’s heard from the scene and the videos she’s seen of her injury, Gabe — who had received EMT training — saved her life.
“Gabe was the video editor at the time,” she said. “He grabbed the medical bag, ran out to the landing area, took complete control of the situation.”
Gabe’s response to the accident cemented their friendship, which had only grown stronger in the years since.
Even when she was still in the hospital, Critchfield said Gabe came to visit. As she worked to navigate life after her injury, she said he was her “number-one fan,” and one of the first people she would reach out to to share her triumphs.
Now, she’s married to Nick Critchfield, and they’re expecting a baby.
“I owe Gabe everything,” she said.
To stay in contact with her thrill-seeking community after her accident, Critchfield started “Tater Tuesdays,” where she would throw potatoes in the oven and invite people over.
Gabe, she said, was a regular attendee.
“He was so excited to meet my baby girl,” she said. “And I’m going to really miss introducing them.”
‘As much love as possible’
Ross Mitchell first met Gabe in 2022, when he started skydiving. Gabe, he said, became his best friend.
“Gabe gave the love that he wanted to receive, and he wanted to receive as much love as possible,” Mitchell said.
He said that the pair had a shared background in emergency medicine. They became quick friends.
Gabe, he said, took a safety-conscious approach to the dangerous sport of BASE jumping.
Mitchell reflected on the lives his friend touched in just 27 years, both in his personal life, and as a firefighter and paramedic.
“I’m happy that he was the face that people would see on their worst day,” Mitchell said, “and I pity people for not being able to see his face on their worst day from now on.”
