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.