NC - 12-year-old dies at Trails Carolina wilderness therapy camp, Lake Toxaway, February 2024

[borndem]

the Letter

and another

Ouch!!!

 

[lynchmob67]

An autopsy report states that a 12-year-old boy, who died less than 24 hours after arriving at the Lake Toxaway-based camp, died of “smothering” and ruled it a homicide.

Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An autopsy report is shedding light after a child died earlier this year at a troubled teen camp in western North Carolina. An autopsy report states that a 12-yea…

myfox8.com

 

[North_Idaho_Nony]

An autopsy report states that a 12-year-old boy, who died less than 24 hours after arriving at the Lake Toxaway-based camp, died of “smothering” and ruled it a homicide.

Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An autopsy report is shedding light after a child died earlier this year at a troubled teen camp in western North Carolina. An autopsy report states that a 12-yea…

myfox8.com

Thanks so much for sharing this heartbreaking update.

I’m unsurprised but still heartbroken for this boy & his loved ones. What a horrible way to die.

 

[MsMarple]

An autopsy report states that a 12-year-old boy, who died less than 24 hours after arriving at the Lake Toxaway-based camp, died of “smothering” and ruled it a homicide.

Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An autopsy report is shedding light after a child died earlier this year at a troubled teen camp in western North Carolina. An autopsy report states that a 12-yea…

myfox8.com

Thanks! From your link:

“He states that at [10 p.m.], the decedent was restless and mumbling in his sleep. He states the decedent was talking and restless in his sleep around [11 p.m.] as well, so they took him out of [his] sleeping bag. He falls asleep and is awakened to go back into [the] sleeping arrangement. The counselor states that at midnight, the decedent was restless and mumbling in his sleep, which was accompanied by ‘thrashing about’ according to his counselor, however, there is no known Seizure history. He states that subsided and that was the last event.
+++++++++
Lots to read in the article. I see that the “panic attack” earlier reported now reads as restless, mumbling and thrashing.

WTH after the prior restlessness the counselor took him out of the sleeping bag which apparently helped the kid fall asleep. So counselor then wakes him to put him back in, causing another incident.

What is wrong with these people?

Y’all, the article is definitely worth reading as it contains a lot of information but be warned some of it could affect sensitive readers.
MOO

 

[tlcya]

I am so relieved this isn't being brushed under the rug. This 12 year old child victim deserves justice. Nothing less.

 

[tlcya]

The report notes that commercially available bivy products include “a common warning” indicating that opening “should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing restriction.” In this case, however, the report states that “the outer, waterproof opening was fully secured and closed with an audible alarm which could not be opened by the decedent and the entire bivy was also partially surrounded by a thick plastic sheet ‘canoe’ under and on the sides of the bivy.”

“These support restriction of breathing due to these external factors,” the autopsy said. “It is unclear if elevated temperature (hyperthermia) may have also played a role in death since he was partially undressed and the way the sleeping area was constructed could have resulted in increased environmental temperature. He was placed into this compromised sleeping area by other(s) and did not have the ability to reasonably remove himself from the situation with the alarm securing the opening. The standard protocol was deviated from due to using a damaged bivy and securing the outer weather-resistant door instead of the inner mesh panel. Lastly, the counselors could not check on him as they should due to the opaque nature of the outer panel, preventing them from potentially noting the problem and delivering aid before he died.

“With this combination of factors, the death is best certified as homicide.”
Trails Carolina camper death ruled homicide by asphyxiation, autopsy shows

and yeah, suddenly the term panic attack is nowhere to be found, rather the victim was simply restless.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

WTH after the prior restlessness the counselor took him out of the sleeping bag which apparently helped the kid fall asleep. So counselor then wakes him to put him back in, causing another incident.

I assume the camp employee made him go back into the fully enclosed, alarm-secured set-up so that he (the employee) didn't have to sit there awake all night watching the 12-year-old sleep.

The information in the report indicates severe child abuse and trauma, IMO.

 

[tlcya]

According to the report, the staff member told investigators that he couldn’t see the boy through the bivy. Instead, the report said, the staff member relied on the fact that he claimed to be able to hear breathing coming from inside.

“I didn’t check as thoroughly as I should have,” the staffer reportedly told investigators. “My actions that night was to perform night checks… that was my responsibility, which I failed on.”

The staff member also added that he did “feel like the bivy had a lot to do with” the boy’s death.

A second staff member “nodded and answered ‘yes’ to the question, do you think he suffocated,” according to the report.

In response to each of the deficiencies cited by regulators, staff at Trails Carolina pointed out that nearly every deficiency cited was something that had been previously approved by N.C. DHHS regulators.
‘I failed.’ NC camp counselor didn’t complete thorough checks before boy’s death

Additionally, camp personnel deviated from standard protocol by using a bivvy that had been damaged and securing him under an opaque covering that may have prevented someone noticing the problem before he died.

Authorities in Transylvania County removed all other campers from Trails Carolina after the boy's death and suspended admissions. In May, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced they would revoke the camps license.

Transylvania County Sheriff Chuck Owenby said his office will review the autopsy report in relation to the ongoing criminal investigation and meet with the District Attorney of Prosecutorial District 42.
Death of a 12-year-old boy at Trails Carolina ruled a homicide

I do wonder who, if anyone, will be charged. The staffer who was ill trainded and supervised who should have checked on him? The person who decided to use the faulty bivy and add the opaque makeshift cover? The people in control of the camp who've been profitting off it at the expense of the physical and mental wellbeing of children?

 

[Lilibet]

I do wonder who, if anyone, will be charged. The staffer who was ill trainded and supervised who should have checked on him? The person who decided to use the faulty bivy and add the opaque makeshift cover? The people in control of the camp who've been profitting off it at the expense of the physical and mental wellbeing of children?

Number three should be charged. At least the staffers took responsibility, which I doubt the camp admin will do.
JMO

 

[cujenn81]

Number three should be charged. At least the staffers took responsibility, which I doubt the camp admin will do.
JMO

Exactly! After all, it is ultimately the administrator’s responsibility to ensure their employees are following the proper health and safety protocols. The buck stops here and all that.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

According to a Medical Examiner’s report obtained and then published by FOX Carolina, the child, who has not been identified in the media, was "smothered" and died from asphyxiation, and his death has been ruled a homicide

The Medical Examiner's report released this month notes that the child suffered a "swelling of the brain" and "mild injuries" on his legs.

The report states that he was placed in a bivy — a small camping tent resembling a sleeping bag — on the night before his death.

Camp protocol requires each bivy to have an opening that holds an "alarm" to notify cabin counselors if the occupant tries to exit, per the report.

Because the internal mesh on the boy's bivy was "torn," the opening of the bivy was replaced by an outer layer, which was opaque. Therefore, cabin counselors who checked on him throughout the night couldn't actually see him, the report states.

He "stopped moving" inside the bivy around 1 a.m., per the report. When emergency personnel arrived after being called around 8 a.m., they determined he had likely been dead for a few hours, the report states.

Cause of Death Revealed for Boy, 12, Found Dead at N.C. 'Troubled Teen' Wilderness Camp

The boy was found unresponsive on the campsite at Trails Carolina on Feb. 3, a day after he arrived there

people.com

 

[ChatteringBirds]

So this bivy was altered, due to broken internal mesh, with an opaque outer layer. Does that mean they didn't have another one that wasn't broken to use instead? That's all they had left for this kid on his first night there? No extras, despite all the money these parents pay? How many of these did they have, and how many kids were in them that night? How many that were altered in this way; was it only his?

What were the parents told about sleeping arrangements? Are these bivys common in these types of camps? Or what safe alternatives do other camps use?

It seems like a catastrophic management failure, IMO.

Also it sounds like anytime one of the kids panics in the bivy, the other kids have to just lie there nearby and hear it?
Horrible.

 

[SpicyFruit]

According to a Medical Examiner’s report obtained and then published by FOX Carolina, the child, who has not been identified in the media, was "smothered" and died from asphyxiation, and his death has been ruled a homicide

The Medical Examiner's report released this month notes that the child suffered a "swelling of the brain" and "mild injuries" on his legs.

The report states that he was placed in a bivy — a small camping tent resembling a sleeping bag — on the night before his death.

Camp protocol requires each bivy to have an opening that holds an "alarm" to notify cabin counselors if the occupant tries to exit, per the report.

Because the internal mesh on the boy's bivy was "torn," the opening of the bivy was replaced by an outer layer, which was opaque. Therefore, cabin counselors who checked on him throughout the night couldn't actually see him, the report states.

He "stopped moving" inside the bivy around 1 a.m., per the report. When emergency personnel arrived after being called around 8 a.m., they determined he had likely been dead for a few hours, the report states.

Cause of Death Revealed for Boy, 12, Found Dead at N.C. 'Troubled Teen' Wilderness Camp

The boy was found unresponsive on the campsite at Trails Carolina on Feb. 3, a day after he arrived there

people.com

The bruising on his leg makes me wonder if he was held down and suffocated?

 

[tlcya]

The bruising on his leg makes me wonder if he was held down and suffocated?

I wondered how willingly he reentered the bivy after having been allowed out to "calm down". Was he forced back in? Or did the mild injuries simply come from him struggling around inside of it trying to find a way to breathe?

 

[realanastasia]

Shock coroner's report reveals boy, 12, killed at Trails Carolina camp

Clark Harman was already in rigor mortis by the time he was found dead by staff at the Trails Carolina wilderness camp on the morning of February 3.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Article has a photo of a “bivy” which might be helpful to those here who aren’t familiar with that style of sleeping bag.

 

[iamshadow21]

Shock coroner's report reveals boy, 12, killed at Trails Carolina camp

Clark Harman was already in rigor mortis by the time he was found dead by staff at the Trails Carolina wilderness camp on the morning of February 3.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Article has a photo of a “bivy” which might be helpful to those here who aren’t familiar with that style of sleeping bag.

Is this the first time the victim's name has been in MSM?

 

[Lilibet]

Shock coroner's report reveals boy, 12, killed at Trails Carolina camp

Clark Harman was already in rigor mortis by the time he was found dead by staff at the Trails Carolina wilderness camp on the morning of February 3.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The picture of the camp director gives me the creeps!

 

[ChatteringBirds]

iamshadow, I noticed that too. I had not seen his name prior. I wonder if his family will speak out through a lawyer soon.

It's sad to see his alleged diagnoses in print. It says he had ADHD, migraines, and social challenges. The mention of migraines strikes me, I guess...

All in my opinion only: The article further makes it sound like the staff altered the bivy spontaneously on the spot as if there wasn't a clear policy about what to do, and they had to figure something out. Not making excuses for grown adults creating a fatal environment, but I hope their training, policies, procedures, etc. will be clarified in court.

 

[iamshadow21]

iamshadow, I noticed that too. I had not seen his name prior. I wonder if his family will speak out through a lawyer soon.

It's sad to see his alleged diagnoses in print. It says he had ADHD, migraines, and social challenges. The mention of migraines strikes me, I guess...

All in my opinion only: The article further makes it sound like the staff altered the bivy spontaneously on the spot as if there wasn't a clear policy about what to do, and they had to figure something out. Not making excuses for grown adults creating a fatal environment, but I hope their training, policies, procedures, etc. will be clarified in court.

What bothers me is not only that they covered the only air intake - the mesh section, but he was in the bivy with his head down the small, FEET end. Opposite end from where the air came in. Was this protocol? Other survivors are describing the claustrophobic, suffocating experience of being put in this thing and then wrapped and pinned down with a tarp. It was inevitable someone was going to die. No air, wrong way in, and pinned to the floor. I bet some of the survivors got brain damage from the anoxia.

MOO

 

[Dotta]

How is something like this allowed in a civilised country
is really beyond me.

RIP to this abused boy.

This is all too much