Boulder's Esther Nakajjigo Was Killed At Arches National Park In June

Denver woman Esther "Essie" Nakajjigo and her husband, Ludovic "Ludo" Michaud, were visiting Arches National Park in mid-June when a freak accident left Nakajjigo dead.

Her family is filing a $270 million wrongful death claim against the park, saying her death was preventable.

The newlyweds were driving during a camping trip on June 13, when a strong gust of wind blew an unsecured metal gate that sliced through the side of their car and decapitated Nakajjigo. The gate barely missed Michaud.

Michaud is seeking $240 million in damages and Nakajjigo's parents are seeking $30 million.

According to the family's claim, three other people have died from similar accidents with unsecured gates over the past 32 years.

"The National Park Service has, in face, known for decades that an unsecured metal pipe gate creates an undetectable hazard and dangerous conditions," says the claim. "For want of an $8 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good."

And extraordinary she was.

Nakajjigo, originally from Kampala, Uganda, used her university tuition money to start a nonprofit organization that provided free reproductive health care to girls and young women when she was just 17.

That same year, she was awarded the Woman Achiever Award from the United Nations Population Fund. She was also named Uganda's Ambassador for Women and Girls at the ceremony; just a few of her numerous humanitarian awards.

She also created a popular reality television series that helped child mothers stay in school and develop life skills, according to The Denver Post. The show had an audience of 6.3 million every week.

Nakajjigo moved to Boulder, Colorado when she was offered a full scholarship to the Watson Institute and began a social entrepreneurship program in 2019.

She married Michaud in March, just as COVID-19 was starting to make U.S. headlines.

The couple had traveled to Arches in celebration of their one-year anniversary of meeting.

"The most important thing for me is to try continuing what she's done," Michaud said to The Associated Press. "She's got quite a few projects started, and we need to make sure those projects survive after... A lot of people just want to continue that because that's what she would have wanted from us."

Photo: Getty Images