Opinion: A beautiful and devastating show of humanity on Tumbledown Mountain

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 13, 2026

As we arrived at the shoreline, we realized that the screams from the swimmers were becoming desperate. By the time I arrived at the island, one person had started chest compressions and I began administering rescue breaths. Strangers came together to perform a million little acts of courage, support and kindness while the realization of the horror we were experiencing became clear. We weren’t able to save a life that day on Tumbledown. But every single one of us tried our hardest. All of us strangers who happened to be on a mountaintop in Maine under a partial solar eclipse — we tried so hard and poured all of our love and faith and power into the trying. We came together, we did our very best with what we had, and together we experienced the devastation and beauty of what it is to be human on this Earth together. ~ Leah McDonald, registered Maine guide, wilderness first responder and licensed clinical social worker, Cumberland