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

[Rolypolyoly]

Doesn't Trails Carolina send adults that are strangers to the families into these kids homes to remove them without the child's knowledge and "transport" them to camp? Wasn't that what Clark's parents paid for to be done to their tiny 12-year-old son? This practice doesn't sound therapeutic to me.

I'm not sure the "escorts" are/were employed by Trails itself or just a subcontractor the camp hooked the parents up with. but yeah basically goons sent to grab you from your own home by surprise and haul you off to camp.

Yes, the camp itself doesn't arrange or offer this service, although I'm sure they can conveniently point people in the right direction, but the parents arrange and hire the goons to kidnap their vulnerable children from their beds in the middle of the night.

Imagine willingly doing that to your child, imagine the poor child's horror at being subjected to that whilst they are begging you to help them, to make it stop, and you, their safe person, the ones who are supposed to protect them and keep them safe, you stand aside and let it happen.

Imagine the utter devastation of a child who already feels wrong, already feels like they are unlovable, knows they are different but have no idea how to make themselves right for you, and they can't because it's brain chemistry not willful bad behaviour, as they realise that you did this to them, that not only did you not love them enough to stop someone forcefully taking them away whilst they begged you to help them, but it was actually you who instigated it.

And Imagine what poor, lost Clark who only wanted to be loved and tried to hard to fit your expectations, felt as he took his last breath in that bivy, thinking nobody loved him, that he wasn't good enough for his own parents to want to keep him safe at home where he belonged.

I agree with @Betty P. Clark took his last breath with those feelings in his heart, his parents absolutely should feel it in theirs until their last.

JMO

 

[Dotta]

Yes, the camp itself doesn't arrange or offer this service, although I'm sure they can conveniently point people in the right direction, but the parents arrange and hire the goons to kidnap their vulnerable children from their beds in the middle of the night.

Imagine willingly doing that to your child, imagine the poor child's horror at being subjected to that whilst they are begging you to help them, to make it stop, and you, their safe person, the ones who are supposed to protect them and keep them safe, you stand aside and let it happen.

Imagine the utter devastation of a child who already feels wrong, already feels like they are unlovable, knows they are different but have no idea how to make themselves right for you, and they can't because it's brain chemistry not willful bad behaviour, as they realise that you did this to them, that not only did you not love them enough to stop someone forcefully taking them away whilst they begged you to help them, but it was actually you who instigated it.

And Imagine what poor, lost Clark who only wanted to be loved and tried to hard to fit your expectations, felt as he took his last breath in that bivy, thinking nobody loved him, that he wasn't good enough for his own parents to want to keep him safe at home where he belonged.

I agree with @Betty P. Clark took his last breath with those feelings in his heart, his parents absolutely should feel it in theirs until their last.

JMO

I couldn't put it to words better!
That is exactly what I think.
This child died feeling abandoned.
Unloved and despised.

All involved in this barbarism should be punished.

And that is My Opinion.

 

[Lusitana]

I can totally empathize with parents feeling like they've run out of options, but I don't think it's fair to paint these parents as naïve to the nature of these camps when they arranged for their 12-year-old son to be ripped out of his bed in the middle of the night by adult strangers that would then transport him to this camp. Don't tell me the parents thought this was therapeutic or helpful, it's violent and cruel. And it breaks my heart because his parents knew he was struggling and needed help, this couldn't ever be the answer. Your kid is an anxious boy that struggles making friends and you have him gooned?

I don't know, I might be thinking wrong but I can't stop thinking about how Clark must have felt and how horrified he was on his final moments, no matter how much of a "bad" kid he might have been, he suffered.

Also, the story being told by the camp doesn't really seem to add up in my head. Why was Clark naked from the waist down?

 

[clorenc]

Poor kid. I often have panic attacks when I feel too hot or suffocated, or if my feet are confined. This was meant to be torture, to break the kids’ toughened spirits right off the bat so they’d bend and comply.

I bet exerting energy by thrashing around only made him breathe harder, hastening the oxygen loss inside that bivy and his eventual suffocation.

I may have missed this, but did he ever call out or scream? Did other kids hear it? Is that why he was removed from the bivy and then later placed back in?

Could he have attempted to open it, even if it did set off the alarm, just out of desperation? Was the fear of punishment too strong? What would staff do if a bivy alarm went off?

Was there in fact a "lock"? How did it work?

 

[Kittybunny]

The North Carolina Attorney General is now considering charges against the camp, which had its license revoked last month and has faced a string of lawsuits alleging neglect and abuse.
[snip]
It should be noted that a common warning on commercially available bivy products indicates that the outer, weather resistant opening should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing
restriction. This information was obtained on basic web search. [from the ME report]
[snip]
The camp which charges more than $700 a day, hit the headlines in 2014 when Alec Lansing, 17, was found dead in a nearby stream where he had lain for two weeks after running away.
Shock coroner's report reveals boy, 12, killed at Trails Carolina camp

more than $700/day per "camper". Paying undertrained or untrained staff minimum wage, to oversee vulnerable kids with varying issues. I sure hope the AG goes after the camp. Someone needs to. The people behind the camps have been making a literal killing. No pun intended.

The Attorney General is only considering charges against the camp?!? Hope the people of NC put pressure on him. This case is just so horrific. I honestly had no idea that these kinds of places existed. Barbaric!

 

[Cedars]

I just don't see how a twelve year old would have the room to turn a complete 180 degrees in that confined a space. A six year old? Sure. But the average twelve year old boy is just under five feet tall.

MOO

So, perhaps he was put into the bag in that position, to make it even less possible to escape, since he couldn't use his hands, arms or even upper body.

With regards to the treatment, I think the Trails camp website made it abundently clear, these camps are based on the belief that such children can 'choose' - or be forced - to behave differently, if they are taken out of their all-too-comfy home situation:

"your child can learn to address their unhealthy behaviors, gain valuable personal insights... they can focus on their own personal growth and healing process.".

Trails Carolina - Leading Wilderness Therapy For Teens and Adolescents

Trails Carolina is a wilderness therapy program helping teens and adolescents ages 10-17 who struggle with mental health challenges. Learn more.

web.archive.org

IMO, they make it clear, this isn't 'treatment' in the medical sense, because the child doesn't need treatment, they need to smarten up.

IMO, this appeals to parent who have the basic philosphy 'spare the rod and spoil the child' but are not comfortable committing actual violence themselves. But they believe that a kind of boot camp experience will force the kid to change.

JMO

 

[Betty P]

So, perhaps he was put into the bag in that position, to make it even less possible to escape, since he couldn't use his hands, arms or even upper body.

With regards to the treatment, I think the Trails camp website made it abundently clear, these camps are based on the belief that such children can 'choose' - or be forced - to behave differently, if they are taken out of their all-too-comfy home situation:

"your child can learn to address their unhealthy behaviors, gain valuable personal insights... they can focus on their own personal growth and healing process.".

Trails Carolina - Leading Wilderness Therapy For Teens and Adolescents

Trails Carolina is a wilderness therapy program helping teens and adolescents ages 10-17 who struggle with mental health challenges. Learn more.

web.archive.org

IMO, they make it clear, this isn't 'treatment' in the medical sense, because the child doesn't need treatment, they need to smarten up.

IMO, this appeals to parent who have the basic philosphy 'spare the rod and spoil the child' but are not comfortable committing actual violence themselves. But they believe that a kind of boot camp experience will force the kid to change.

JMO

Barbaric. It's child abuse.

 

[ifindedout]

That brings up a question… the parents must have signed a contract with the camp when they enrolled their child.

Did the camp disclose that their son might be subjected to being placed in a bivy for x number of nights upon arrival? And if so was a proper description given of a bivy?

If not then why would the camp exclude sleeping arrangements that clearly were outside the norm? What parent would automatically assume their kid would be zipped up in a multi layered bag with their face covered? Probably none.

I know we don’t have those answers but it makes me wonder just what the camp actually disclosed up front.
All my own thoughts and opinions.

BBM
Also, how big was the print in which it was described? Stereotypically fine?

 

[North_Idaho_Nony]

BBM
Also, how big was the print in which it was described? Stereotypically fine?

Really good questions, to which I’ll add: how many pages?

The happy ending to my (now adult) “troubled adolescent’s” story is we found an excellent clinical research study at the NIH where she was admitted, diagnosed, treated, & stabilized over a three month period. There were hundreds of pages I had to read & sign at admission (as well as before), and there was plenty of time given to actually read every single page & ask questions.

OTOH, before that, she had to be admitted to the only credentialed adolescent & teen inpatient mental health hospital in the region — 90 miles from home — following a failed suicide attempt: there was lots of paperwork, very little time to read it, and lots of pressure to just sign it all.

MOO, I suspect the intake at the “wilderness therapy camp” was far more similar to the later than the former. Although we really know since his parents weren’t there at admission. Preying on parental fears & high pressure “sales” tactics are features, not bugs, in the for-profit “troubled adolescent & teen” industry. Deep sigh.

 

[AmandaSkis]

Thank you to others who have shared photos of the bivy. What I am also curious about, because I cannot picture it at all, is how this alarm worked. Supposedly, this alarm also kept the bivy closed. How? Is there a photo of the actual arrangement of this bivy (versus how it should be used)?

 

[floridafreshsqueez]

Why would anyone think that's an effective or humane way to deal with a child with any neurological/behavioral problem?

That’s what I want someone to ask Kathy Hilton. This exact thing happened to Paris Hilton when she got sent to a camp. They snatched her out of bed in the middle of the night, two strangers, and the parents just basically stood in the hallway and watched.

This poor boy was traumatized over and over until he was dead in less than 24 hours. So what if he arrived and was “loud” and “irate”?? The kid got yanked out of bed and driven into the wilderness against his will…just thinking about someone doing that to me, I know I would be feral as an adult.

I think many adults forget that children are people, they have human rights too. It would appear the true “goal” of these wilderness camps is to break the child’s spirit.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Any attorneys licensed in NC here? Who broke the law and could be charged? I assume the actual staff members at the camp that night, but anyone else? What do you think are the chances anyone will be charged?

 

[BrownRice]

Yes, the camp itself doesn't arrange or offer this service, although I'm sure they can conveniently point people in the right direction, but the parents arrange and hire the goons to kidnap their vulnerable children from their beds in the middle of the night.

Imagine willingly doing that to your child, imagine the poor child's horror at being subjected to that whilst they are begging you to help them, to make it stop, and you, their safe person, the ones who are supposed to protect them and keep them safe, you stand aside and let it happen.

Imagine the utter devastation of a child who already feels wrong, already feels like they are unlovable, knows they are different but have no idea how to make themselves right for you, and they can't because it's brain chemistry not willful bad behaviour, as they realise that you did this to them, that not only did you not love them enough to stop someone forcefully taking them away whilst they begged you to help them, but it was actually you who instigated it.

And Imagine what poor, lost Clark who only wanted to be loved and tried to hard to fit your expectations, felt as he took his last breath in that bivy, thinking nobody loved him, that he wasn't good enough for his own parents to want to keep him safe at home where he belonged.

I agree with @Betty P. Clark took his last breath with those feelings in his heart, his parents absolutely should feel it in theirs until their last.

JMO

This one of the saddest posts I’ve read in awhile.

 

[GRT]

This sounds more like physical abuse or torture than "treatment". There is no scientific evidence that this sort of treatment is effective for psych problems, mental illness, addiction or anything. The same applies to sensory deprivation and isolation, water-boarding, ice water baths, etc.

BBM

Exactly! It's against the law to do any of those things to captured prisoners of war, but it's okay to lock a child in an enclosure where he can't get enough oxygen, and he slowly, tortuously, painfully, and fearfully suffocates.

What must little Clark have thought? Were his last thoughts wondering if his parents hated him so much they had him killed? Did he cry out for them, only to be ignored by the counselors as he faded?

Did he sense when he was ripped from his bed and kidnapped that he was being sent to his death?

Maybe Trails should rebrand themselves as a "concentration" camp.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I'm curious how many counselors were there that night, in charge of him. Just one or two together? Does anyone know? I am not sure how to access the actual reports that have been quoted.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Makes me wonder if he had other diagnoses not mentioned, too.

To be fair to his parents, we don't know what other kind of help/programs they have tried and what they actually thought they were paying for at this camp.
Maybe they were skillfully promised he would be taught social skills, self esteem, and all that they dearly hoped he could have, while enjoying nature with peers. MOO. I give them the benefit of the doubt.

IMO:
It's one thing being naive to a camp's deceptive advertising, it's quite another thing to have your child gooned.

Doesn't Trails Carolina send adults that are strangers to the families into these kids homes to remove them without the child's knowledge and "transport" them to camp? Wasn't that what Clark's parents paid for to be done to their tiny 12-year-old son? This practice doesn't sound therapeutic to me.

More like trauma that will last their lifetime.
Clarke also passed on with that trauma fresh within his soul.
Beyond heart wrenching.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Yes, the camp itself doesn't arrange or offer this service, although I'm sure they can conveniently point people in the right direction, but the parents arrange and hire the goons to kidnap their vulnerable children from their beds in the middle of the night.

Imagine willingly doing that to your child, imagine the poor child's horror at being subjected to that whilst they are begging you to help them, to make it stop, and you, their safe person, the ones who are supposed to protect them and keep them safe, you stand aside and let it happen.

Imagine the utter devastation of a child who already feels wrong, already feels like they are unlovable, knows they are different but have no idea how to make themselves right for you, and they can't because it's brain chemistry not willful bad behaviour, as they realise that you did this to them, that not only did you not love them enough to stop someone forcefully taking them away whilst they begged you to help them, but it was actually you who instigated it.

And Imagine what poor, lost Clark who only wanted to be loved and tried to hard to fit your expectations, felt as he took his last breath in that bivy, thinking nobody loved him, that he wasn't good enough for his own parents to want to keep him safe at home where he belonged.

I agree with @Betty P. Clark took his last breath with those feelings in his heart, his parents absolutely should feel it in theirs until their last.

JMO

I can only imagine the kinds of financial kick-backs that take place within this abusive industry.

 

[TheTeach]

I live in NC and heard about this case originally....did not keep up though.

Like many of you are mentioning....it's one thing to be desperate, one thing to send your kid off to camp, one thing to agree to subjecting your kid to physical activity, or agreeing to no contract with them....but at the point when you seen or heard about legal kidnapping........no.

I'm not a parent, but the first thing I look at are reviews... and I would have known enough from reviews to know that this place wasn't for my child. MOO--I can recognize too that I've never been in this position, and do not know the extent of what this family has went through. I'm sure the marketing and shiny solutions were just what they were looking for.

 

[MsMarple]

Thank you to others who have shared photos of the bivy. What I am also curious about, because I cannot picture it at all, is how this alarm worked. Supposedly, this alarm also kept the bivy closed. How? Is there a photo of the actual arrangement of this bivy (versus how it should be used)?

I may have missed something but a search on bivy alarm and bivy lock returned nothing. So I’m thinking both were some sort of Frankenstein rigging in order to lock children into bivy bags. If that’s correct then I wonder if other camps like these use the same items.

The docs posted upthread may have more information. My iPhone doesn’t like opening pdf files so I’ll have to go to my laptop later to read them. I’m very curious about the setup too.

Barbaric. Imagine someone wrapping you up head to toe in a blanket and tying a rope around you to keep you inside. Then demanding you sleep the night like that. Makes my heart pound just thinking about it.

 

[TheTeach]

I may have missed something but a search on bivy alarm and bivy lock returned nothing. So I’m thinking both were some sort of Frankenstein rigging in order to lock children into bicycles bags. If that’s correct then I wonder if other camps like these use the same items.

The docs posted upthread may have more information. My iPhone doesn’t like opening pdf files so I’ll have to go to my laptop later to read them. I’m very curious about the setup too.

Barbaric. Imagine someone wrapping you up head to toe in a blanket and tying a rope around you to keep you inside. Then demanding you sleep the night like that. Makes my heart pound just thinking about it.

I imagined it like using a lock with an alarm on the two zippers so they couldn't be pulled apart to unzip. Not sure if this was discussed earlier on.