Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Littlerock Woman Dies During Camping Trip : Hiking: Janet Bradley, 38, suffered from asthma and bronchitis, but the cause of death is still being investigated.

A Littlerock woman died Wednesday after developing respiratory problems during an overnight camping trip in the Angeles National Forest, despite the efforts of her boyfriend and fire officials to save her.

Janet Bradley, 38, died shortly after a fire department rescue team took her to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, said Capt. Harry Thy of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Bradley suffered from asthma and bronchitis, but the cause of death is still being investigated by the coroner’s office, authorities said.

Bradley’s boyfriend, Jerry Sikorski, 37, also of Littlerock, said he took Bradley and a male friend several miles into the mountains along Bouquet Canyon Road north of Santa Clarita about 5 p.m. Tuesday to pan for gold.

He said he had been dating Bradley for less than a year and that this was the first such trip he took her on. “I just wanted to show them how to pan gold,” he said.

Bradley started having trouble breathing during the trek into the mountains, said Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Erickson, but “at the time they did not feel it warranted any type of immediate medical attention.”

The woman’s breathing got worse just before dawn and the trio tried to hike out, but Bradley was unable to make it up the steep hills, Sikorski said. “She couldn’t walk out any more.”

The couple’s friend, Victor Black, 26, of Baja California, stayed with Bradley while Sikorski hiked out to get help. He reached the Texas Canyon Ranger Station just before 9:30 a.m. and fire and sheriff’s officials were alerted.

Rescuers spent about an hour searching the canyon, using vehicles and a helicopter, they said. Rescuers in a ground vehicle heard shouts for help about five miles into the canyon and found Black standing on a trail. He led them to Bradley.

Firefighters airlifted Bradley out of the canyon, but were forced to land near the ranger station and take her to the hospital by ambulance because she became combative for unknown reasons, authorities said.

“They didn’t want to take a chance of something going wrong in the air,” said Fire Department Inspector Gil Sanchez.

Initial reports at the hospital indicated Bradley was suffering from dehydration and asthma. But her condition worsened and she died shortly before 1 p.m., hospital officials said.

The news of Bradley’s death shocked Sikorski and members of her family, who gathered at the hospital to get more details from sheriff’s officials about the incident.

Her brother, Paul Shivley of Palmdale, said he doesn’t understand why she made the trip with her longtime health problems.

“What the hell she was doing out gold-panning and mining is beyond me,” he said.

All three hikers were scratched badly from the heavy brush and other obstacles in the rugged hills, Thy said. “They weren’t prepared for this type of journey.”