Former Campers Speak Out About Conditions at Wilderness Camp in NC Where 12-Year-Old Died

Former camp attendees at Trails Carolina, the outdoor camp in North Carolina where a 12-year-old child passed away at the beginning of February, are making their voices heard.

The child wasn't breathing when someone contacted 911 at around 8 in the morning on February 3, the day after he arrived at camp.

Since the child had been dead for "some time," firefighters responded, started CPR, and then stopped, according to the sheriff's office. Because of his age, the child remained anonymous.

A few children who were also at the camp in western North Carolina claim they were subjected to cruel conditions that might have resulted in their deaths.

Vic MitterandoPhoto byWRAL

"I immediately went through a list in my head of like the ways that I was treated that could have caused his death," remarked Vic Mitterando, a previous camper who spent three months at Trails Carolina in 2017 and 2018.

Photo byWRAL

The child was required to sleep that night in a Bivvy bag, or emergency sleeping bag, strung up on a thick piece of plastic with an alarm set to go off if he moved, according to a search warrant filed by criminal investigators.

It's a somewhat modified variation of the "burrito" that Mitterando and other previous campers have spoken of having to sleep in.

Vic MitterandoPhoto byWRAL

According to Mitterando, "The restrictive component of it was the same. "I remember I was on burrito for two weeks and I remember not being able to sleep because I could not move. I could not breathe very well. It was just kind of like a cocoon."

According to Mitterando, he wondered, "What did I do to deserve this? How is this therapeutic in any ways?"

"We would lay on a tarp and then they'd wrap it over us, restraining us from any movement," explained a 14-year-old girl who was previously a camper and whose parents requested that news outlets withhold her name. "You had to stay like this long time," the girl stated. In 2022, the girl was at Trails Carolina.

Photo byWRAL

"I just didn't understand, why would any parents send their kid here," she questioned. "When I heard about the death at Trails, it hurt me a lot more than I thought it would because my first reaction was I made it out but he didn't."

The 12-year-old boy's death has been declared unnatural by the medical examiner, according to the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office; however, the cause of death has not been determined.

Saying, "These are kids. These are kids who are depressed and anxious and suicidal. And they don't want to be there." Mitterando said.

Mitterando would remark, "Shame on you, what you're doing is hurting people. And in some sick way, you might think that you're helping them because of the amount of money that you're getting but you're just hurting children." if he could talk to a camp leader.

Following the boy's passing earlier this month, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services pulled the last children from the camp and stopped registration for new participants.

Photo byWRAL

On its website, the closed camp at 500 Winding Gap Road is described as a "wilderness therapy program" for children and adolescents "who struggle with mental health challenges," ages 10 to 17.

Source:

https://www.wral.com/amp/21297205/