A paralyzed former police officer who advocated for wheelchair users has died after accidentally driving his ATV off an Idaho cliff and plunging 500 feet. Tom McTevia, 42, who was left without the use of his legs following another ATV accident 11 years ago, was traveling with a group and driving his friend Tina Hoisington, 45, near an overlook at Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County on Sunday. When the group stopped for a photograph around noon, McTevia's ATV got too close to the edge of the 2,000-foot cliff and went over, witnesses told Selkirk Fire Rescue, the CDA Press reported. A firefighter reached the first victim's body after rappelling down 500 feet of rock, and the second victim was found 1,100 feet below the edge, Fire Rescue said. A helicopter recovered their bodies. Loss: 42-year-old Tom McTevia, pictured on a trail he campaigned to make accessible for wheelchairs, has died after accidentally plunging over the edge of an Idaho overlook while on his ATV . Victim: His passenger and best friend, Tina Hoisington, pictured, also died in the accident on Sunday . The news has stunned the community of Coeur d'Alene, where McTevia had long campaigned for wheelchair users to get better access to outdoor activities. McTevia, a Navy veteran and father-of-one, had been left paralyzed in another ATV accident in 2004, when he was an Orofino police officer. He suffered a spinal cord injury that left him without the use of his legs and with limited use of his arms and hands, and he was forced to leave the police department, the Spokesman Review reported. Despite his physical challenges, he continued to live an active lifestyle and enjoyed kayaking, hunting, skydiving and cycling by operating the bike with his hands. He moved to Coeur d'Alene in 2006 and volunteered at the records department of the Coeur d'Alene Police Department. Crash: A fire rescue image shows the damaged ATV after the fall. Both victims fell out of the vehicle . Scene: They were at this scene overlook at at Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County when they fell . In 2009, he took part in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Spokane. Most recently, he pushed for the city to make a section of a 1,500-foot trail at Tubbs Hill accessible to wheelchair users by making the incline gentler. 'He just absolutely felt so passionate about that project,' Orofino Mayor Ryan Smathers told the CDA Press. 'He missed being able to walk in the outdoors, so he at least wanted to still experience the outdoors.' In February, he spoke to Live Well Cda magazine about his outlook on life. 'I don't like the word "handicap",' he said. 'I don't like the word "disability". Disability is a state of mind, or it's a broken-down vehicle on the side of the road. Active: McTevia was left paralyzed by another ATV accident in 2004 but continued to stay active . Hobbies: He continued to go kayaking, hunting and skydiving despite his physical challenges . 'I'm minorly inconvenienced. Every person on this planet has an inconvenience, and it is all in how you approach it.' McTevia leaves behind one son, who lives in California and graduated high school last year. Friends told KREM that McTevia and Hoisington, from Lewiston, Idaho, were best friends who went on dozens of outdoor trips together. She had worked at the Lewis Clark Credit Union as a loan officer for 15 years. 'Our hearts are breaking,' CEO Trisha Baker said in a statement released on Monday. 'Tina touched so many lives… We will miss her laugh and her awesome sense of humor.'
Tom McTevia, 42, and his passenger and best friend, Tina Hoisington, 45, died after their ATV plunged from an Idaho overlook on Sunday . Witnesses said they got too close to the edge while posing for a photo . McTevia was left paralyzed in another ATV accident 11 years earlier . But the former cop and Navy veteran continued to stay active and advocated for better trails for people in wheelchairs .