Teen on hike where girl died
By Stacey Hart/
Staff Writer
Thursday, August 3,
2006
About 50 miles from
where a South Boston 16-year-old died on an Outward Bound Wilderness
hike, Nick Roopenian and 14 other teenagers were on a similar trip.
It was not until
the 17-year-old from Sudbury was on his way back home that he was
told that Elisa Santry, who had been on a hike headed to the
Colorado River, died.
"It was pretty sad.
Minutes before we were all laughing and afterwards it was just quiet
and we were a sad group," Roopenian said.
Santry died on July
16 after she got separated from the rest of her group as they hiked
the desert in 110-degree heat. The exact cause of her death has yet
to be determined.
Roopenian spent 15
days rafting and hiking in July as part of an Outward Bound trip to
the Green River in Utah. Although Santry died while Roopenian and
the other 16 and 17 year olds in his group were in the middle of
their trip, they were not told until later.
"Before we got on
the bus to go home, one of the counselors told us a girl had died on
the course," he said. "We found out at the end because they didn't
want to worry us or ruin our trip by having us be nervous."
Kirsten Roopenian,
Nick's mom, had mixed feelings about her son not being told about
Santry's death when it happened, but she knew the counselors has
been told and that they were on high alert
"Knowing teenagers
and knowing they were on a very intense experience...I think telling
them in the middle of this experience would have been worse because
they would have been scared and worried," she said.
Nick said it was
very hot and there were times they would hike during the day, but
they would cool off by going in the river. The teens were never
aware of what had happened 50 miles away, but he said the counselors
were as attentive as always.
"They were always
cautious. They would always take measures to make sure we were
safe," he said.
Although Roopenian
agreed that the counselors are careful and make sure the teens drink
enough liquids, she was scared when she first received a phone call
from Outward Bound, telling her someone in another group had died.
"I went sheet
white, all the blood ran out of me because it was such a strange
piece of news. I thought at first they were on the same trip. I had
no idea if she'd gotten killed by a wild animal, whether she'd
fallen," Roopenian said.
She was not given a
lot of details about what happened, but knew it was 110-degrees in
Utah. Roopenian said she wanted to speak with Nick, but that was
impossible until he returned home on July 23.
"I started getting
scared because of the heat. I'm thinking all kinds of things, that
he's going to get heat stroke, how the counselors are dealing with
it," she said.
Until Nick returned
home, Roopenian said she spoke with an Outward Bound representative
many times and the woman was great about keeping her posted on what
was going on.
"It's a great
group. They do a lot of positive things," Roopenian said.
Despite the death
of Santry, Nick said he would have no worries about going on another
trip with Outward Bound.
"I think this is a
really unfortunate event that happened, but it's definitely safe and
they know what they're doing," he said. "I've been on two, so I'd
definitely go back for another one. I had a great time."
"I think this is a
really unfortunate event that happened, but it's definitely safe and
they know what they're doing," he said. "I've been on two, so I'd
definitely go back for another one. I had a great time."
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