Boston student dies in Utah
Family questions Outward Bound hike
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff | July 20, 2006
Writing about how she wanted to conquer her shyness and build relationships, Elisa Santry of South Boston won a free spot in the Outward Bound Wilderness program this summer.
But on Sunday, the 16th day of her 22-day trip of backpacking and rafting, Santry somehow got separated from the rest of her group while on a hike in a rugged desert in 110-degree heat.
``We are anxious to get more information, but, more importantly, we are anxious to speak with the adults who were supervising her," said Mary O'Neil, an aunt. ``Who is that adult who said, `It's 110 degrees, and let's go hiking between the hours of 10 and 4?' Think about it; 110 degrees would be difficult to sit in in the shade. It's mind-boggling."
O'Neil said Santry's mother, Elisa Woods, had initially opposed her daughter's entrance into the program, fearful that something tragic would happen. The mother changed her mind at the last minute, after a mentor assigned to Santry convinced her that the trip was safe and a good opportunity. The teenager received a mentor as a part of the scholarship.
Santry's death was the second related to a program for Outward Bound in nearly three decades, said Mickey Freeman, president of the program.
In 1978, a participant fell off a rock in the Pacific Northwest, Freeman said. Other participants have died because of existing medical conditions, he said. [How many?] Santry had passed a medical screening, Freeman also said.
Outward Bound officials said they had received conflicting reports from the four teenagers who were hiking with Santry before she disappeared.
According to some accounts, Santry, who would have been a junior this fall at the O'Bryant School, and the other teenagers had hiked into an area with brush so thick they had to push through it with their hands.
They were hiking one-quarter of a mile to the Colorado River to go rafting, and an instructor was waiting for them at the river for the rafting excursion. Some students said they realized that Santry was missing after they emerged from the brush. Others, however said they were not sure whether Santry had in fact followed them into the thick brush near the river.
The sheriff's office in San Juan County released a statement saying that Santry had stayed behind to wait for a girl who had injured her ankle. Outward Bound officials disputed that account. They said the injured girl had been evacuated before Santry and the other teenagers reached the last leg of the hike.
In response to the questioning of Santry's aunt, Freeman said the students had been hiking in normal temperatures for that time of year, in a typical activity.
``Something happened, but we don't know what," he said.
The program encourages a buddy system, but Freeman said students sometimes travel by themselves, at their own pace, especially in the latter days of a long trip. Santry did not have an assigned buddy.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... s_in_utah/Outward Bound Wilderness instructors waited for five hours - until after they found the body of a South Boston girl who had gone missing in 110-degree heat - before calling for help, the not-for-profit?s president said yesterday.
The family of 16-year-old Elisa D. Santry wants to know why she was hiking in that heat and why she was left alone.
?It?s not fair. It?s not right,? said her brother, Steve Woods. ?When I went to summer camp, there was a staff person at the front of the group, in the middle and at the back to make sure no one was left behind . . . In 110-degree weather, why would they let those children wander??
The group was on its 16th day of a 22-day course, during which Santry had written her mother to complain that some of the other students were bullying her, Freeman said. It was unclear yesterday whether that had anything to do with her disappearance.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegio ... eid=149088The mother of a 16-year-old South Boston girl who died while hiking in Utah last Sunday said her only daughter would be alive if the Outward Bound Wilderness program didn't allow her to hike alone.
``As far as I'm concerned, it's neglect," said Elisa Woods, the mother of Elisa Santry Woods, who later recalled the difficult pregnancy and premature birth of her daughter.
For large chunks of time that Sunday, instructors of Outward Bound Wilderness allowed students to hike without adult supervision, sometimes alone, said Mickey Freeman, the organization's president. He said it's not uncommon for teenagers to hike by themselves, noting that the program is designed to teach responsibility, confidence, and self-reliance.
``We are mourning with the mother for this situation, but it would be complete speculation on what may or may not have saved her daughter's life," he said. ``Something went wrong. We don't know what. We want to find out as much as the family does."
Hiking in temperatures above 90 degrees and allowing youth to travel alone goes against Utah state regulations for wilderness programs that troubled youth are mandated to attend. But those regulations don't apply to Outward Bound Wilderness because it's a voluntary program open to all youth, said Ken Stettler, director of the Office of Licensing for the Utah Department of Human Services.
``All we can do is regulate the youth treatment programs, not the recreation programs. Otherwise, we would have been on those guys before," he said, referring to Outward Bound Wilderness. [Yeh, right!]
He also believes Outward Bound Wilderness waited too long to call professional emergency workers. ``Maybe they could have revived her," he said.
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