Saturday, June 13, 2015

12-YEAR-OLD CHILD KILLED IN A ZIPLINE ACCIDENT AT YMCA CAMP CHEERIO IN GLADE VALLEY, NC







JUNE 11, 2015

GLADE VALLEY, NC

A 12-year-old child from Wilmington died Thursday in a zipline accident at YMCA Camp Cheerio in Glade Valley, according to camp officials.

The name of the female victim has not been released, Camp CEO David Ozmore said. She was on a one-week stay at the camp and he said camp pickup was Saturday at 10 a.m.

The Wilmington camper had come to the camp before, and Ozmore said it was her third or fourth summer going to Camp Cheerio.

"We are reviewing all protocols," Ozmore said. "We are going through our crisis plan and working with our staff and campers to make sure they are OK."
The zipline, which goes over a trail, has been in operation for two years and operates on dual lines.

"We think those lines got tangled," Ozmore said.

The camp has never had a problem with the zipline before, he said, adding it has gone through several summer, spring and fall programs without fail.

He said that in the 60 years YMCA Camp Cheerio has been in operation, no tragedy of this nature has occurred.

"It's just shocking," Ozmore said. "Camp is a magical place and you never think anything like this would happen. It would happen somewhere else, but not here."

He said the day had been emotional and tears were shed at the staff and camp meetings. The parents of the child flew in from Wilmington shortly after the incident, he said. Then as part of protocol, parents of campers who shared a cabin with the victim were notified and a general email was sent to all camp parents.

By Friday, camp was back to normal for hundreds of children, though the zip line remained closed as officials investigate exactly what happened.

Alleghany County Sheriff Bryan Maines said his heart goes out to the child's family, as well as camp workers and emergency responders that went to the scene.

The 135-acre camp serves boys and girls ages 7-15. An all-girls camp was taking place this week, according to an online schedule.