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Author Topic: Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death  (Read 9641 times)

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Offline Teen Advocates USA

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« on: August 17, 2002, 03:03:00 AM »
An unidentified 15 year old girl collapsed and died while backpacking with a group of other teenagers near the Arc Dome Wilderness Area (Nevada) on May 27, 2002. The initial coroner's report stated there was no observable cause of death.  If anyone can help with updates on this case, please contact Barbe Stamps at http://www.teenadvocatesusa.org



[ This Message was edited by: Teen Advocates USA on 2002-08-17 00:06 ]
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Offline Deborah

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2002, 08:57:00 PM »
Catherine Freer Wilderness is doing an excellent job suppressing this story.
Please consider writing to major newspapers in Oregon and Nevada and demand, beg, plead with them to cover this story.

CF is based out of Albany, Oregon but the death occured in Tonopah, Nevada.

Portland Mercury
http://www.bendbulletin.com/

Las Vegas Sun
http://www.lasvegassun.com/

Las Vegas Review Journal
http://www.lvrj.com/
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Offline Deborah

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2002, 01:21:00 AM »
Portland Mercury responds regarding the death at Catherine Freer.
Deborah

[email protected]

Thank you for the e-mail regarding the Catherine Freer program.  In fact, I did not know anything about the recent death.  Most of the news that we cover is within the boundaries of Portland.  In the past, however, we have written stories about wilderness programs.  I did, in fact, shadow one of C. Freer's program a few years ago and spent three weeks on a trek with the teens.  

I will give a call to Catherine Freer.  Any information that you have, I would greatly appreciate.

Phil Busse
Managing Editor
Portland Mercury
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2003, 01:46:00 AM »
What came about in regards to the girls death?  What was the cause of death?  As a person with extensive wilderness medical training I understand that there is an inherant risk to being in the wilderness.  It should be noted that CF has an excellent history of safety.  It has been shown that CF treks are safer than a teenager driving thier car or riding with another teen.  It should also be stated that, although their is no study, students on a CF trek are often in a much safer environment on the trek than in the environment they came from.
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Offline FaceKhan

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2003, 04:35:00 AM »
I am not sure what happened with this case. I imagine that the parents sued and CF's insurance probably pushed a settlment most likely with no admission of responsibility and with a secrecy agreement.


One of my close friends went to a CF hike a few years ago. He thought he was going to an outward bound type adventure. He had a more or less good time, since he said the staff recognized pretty early on that he did not have any serious problems other than not getting along with his control freak mother. He said that a lot of the kids there were really messed up. The main negative things were the enforced silence and taking their shoes at night. He also complained that the staff threatened everyone with another 3 week trip a lot.

You can't say its safer than driving because the samples are all off. You can't consider the hundreds of thousands of 16-17 year old drivers vs a few thousand CF kids and then declare it is safer than them driving.

However you are probably right that it is safer at CF for many of the kids than in their "environment" since more children and teens are killed at home by their parents or caretakers in a week than get killed at wildnerness programs in a year.

Kids going to CF are not exactly living on the street prior to arrival. They like most teens sent to fad/fraud programs of all kinds, are affluent teens who have problems ranging from not getting along with their parents because thats normal, to not getting along with their parents because they are severely abusive and the program provides a way for the parents to abdicate responsibility and in many cases to lock the kid up so they are unable to report abuse at home.
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Offline hawaiistacey

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2003, 03:09:00 PM »
In my opinion all wilderness programs should be illegal. I attended suws idaho for three weeks and experienced more stress and depression in that one month then I had ever felt in my whole life, these programs are traumatizing. Parents only send their kids to them because they are too incompetent to raise them by themselves.
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Offline Deborah

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2003, 11:03:00 PM »
There is a photo of this beautiful young woman at Teen Advocates.  :evil:

What's the count of teens who have died from heat exhaustion, stroke and/or dehydration? Deaths that could've been prevented with basic common sense?

Robert Cooley, a psychologist who founded Oregon's Catherine Freer Wilderness Expeditions and has studied the risks involved in the programs, said wilderness therapy is about as dangerous as whitewater rafting. Downhill skiers, he said, are three times as likely to get hurt as wilderness therapy participants.

Ironic that three teens died in his program AFTER he issued his safety report.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/opinion/ ... ident.html

The risks are too great.
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2004, 10:26:00 PM »
I'm not at all supprised that a trek took a girls life, I almost passed out many times while I was hiking in the Oregon/California area July of 2001, durring a terrable drout. I have a weak heart and problems breathing. The way they handled me, was putting me in the front of the line. The did the same thing when I got nine bee stings in my left arm. They couldn't do anything about the swelling, but they told me to hurry or I "would be punished with extra pack time at the end of the day"
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Offline Deborah

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2004, 10:49:00 PM »
Welcome to Fornits.
Why couldn't/didn't they do anything about the swelling caused by bee stings? Did they carry med packs?
What does "extra pack time" entail?
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2004, 10:58:00 PM »
Quote
On 2004-01-04 19:26:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I'm not at all supprised that a trek took a girls life, I almost passed out many times while I was hiking in the Oregon/California area July of 2001, durring a terrable drout. I have a weak heart and problems breathing. The way they handled me, was putting me in the front of the line. The did the same thing when I got nine bee stings in my left arm. They couldn't do anything about the swelling, but they told me to hurry or I "would be punished with extra pack time at the end of the day""


 ::crybaby::  ::mecry::
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Offline Deborah

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2004, 11:28:00 PM »
Leap,
I don't know how familiar you are to the message board venue, but you should know at the outset that you will encounter criticism and down right rudeness. Know that there are many here who respect you for sharing your experience.
Scroll up and read the link, Please Don't Feed the Trolls.
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2004, 03:22:00 AM »
I went to Cascade School with the best friend of the girl who died, and heard about what had happened to her. The girl died of heart faliure. Apparently she was a really tiny girl and she just couldn't handle the strain of all the hiking.
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Offline EricasMom

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2004, 11:55:00 AM »
Erica Harvey died of hyperthermia (heat-stroke) with dehydration.  I'm her mom: this is fact.  The girl you knew at Cascade (H.T.)also went to Catherine Freer (before Erica) and may have gotten her information from someone at Catherine Freer.  It's not correct.  Erica, at 5'5" and 130 lbs. was a strong, healthy young woman who died from preventable causes.

The 2 year anniversary of Erica's death is May 27.
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2004, 01:05:00 PM »
Quote
On 2004-05-20 08:55:00, EricasMom wrote:

"Erica Harvey died of hyperthermia (heat-stroke) with dehydration.  I'm her mom: this is fact.  The girl you knew at Cascade (H.T.)also went to Catherine Freer (before Erica) and may have gotten her information from someone at Catherine Freer.  It's not correct.  Erica, at 5'5" and 130 lbs. was a strong, healthy young woman who died from preventable causes.



The 2 year anniversary of Erica's death is May 27.   "


I'm so terribly sorry for your loss, ma'am.

Timoclea
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Offline Anonymous

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Catherine Freer Wilderness Program Death
« Reply #14 on: May 20, 2004, 01:17:00 PM »
Me too ...

 :cry:
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