The horrific death of a 14-year-old Portland boy could have been avoided if his high school and an organization he partnered with had not allowed students to plant trees during a storm, a new $29 million lawsuit claims.
Christopher Kelly died on November 6, 2021, when a large section of the trunk of a black cottonwood tree fell 52 feet and struck him in the head while he was planting trees in the Sandy River Delta on a school-sponsored trip. reports the Oregonian.
Kelly was with a group of about two dozen Central Catholic High School students and two staff members on the trip to fulfill her community service requirement for graduation, when Strong gusts of wind and thunder were reported just a mile away, according to a lawsuit her mother, Eileen, filed Thursday, which was obtained by KPTV.
Now he claims that neither Neither the school nor the organization did enough to protect students from the elements, even though the forecast included possible storms.
Christopher Kelly, 14, was killed on November 6, 2021 during a school-sponsored trip.
A large section of the trunk of a black cottonwood tree fell 52 feet and struck him on the head while he was planting trees in the Sandy River Delta.
When the storm finally reached the delta, some students were left huddled under a tent while a Friends of Trees arborist ran to her car to get out of the storm, the lawsuit states.
Meanwhile, Kelly was still planting trees and bushes when the tree trunk fell on him.
He was still alive and breathing before help arrived, but was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The lawsuit now contends that the school and Friends of Trees should have postponed or canceled the event, or at least moved the volunteers to a safe shelter when they heard thunder, as the National Weather Service advises.
It also says the school did not provide helmets to volunteers and allegedly did not have a plan to move volunteers inside buildings or cars for at least 30 minutes after the last sound of thunder, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration guidelines.
Eileen is now seeking $29 million in damages for the child’s wrongful death.
Kelly was with a group of about two dozen Central Catholic High School students and two staff members on the trip to fulfill their community service requirement for graduation.
In a statement, Central Catholic High School officials said: ‘Our community was deeply saddened by the death of freshman Christopher Kelly in 2021 and continues to share our condolences with the Kelly family.
“We learned of the lawsuit on Friday and it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.”
The executive director of Friends of Trees also told the Oregonian that his organization had just learned of the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Christopher was adopted by the Kelly family in May 2010 and was actively involved in Taekwondo and Scouts USA, hoping to one day earn his black belt. says an online obituary.
He also loved mathematics and ‘from a young age he helped solve family mathematical problems, which irritated his older sisters,’ he says.
Christopher’s aunt described him as “such a sweet, smiling, wonderful boy who believed in volunteering.”
Christopher’s aunt too described it in Inside Edition as “such a sweet, smiling, wonderful girl who believed in volunteering.”
“It’s so tragic that this happened, it’s so unfair,” he said.
she configured an online fundraiser for the teen’s funeral expenses, which had raised more than $25,000 when Eileen closed it in January 2022.
‘The girls and I are planning to go to Florida in the fall and we’ll take some of Christopher’s ashes to Diagon Alley (at Universal Studios) since Chris was a big Harry Potter fan, we’ll go see manatees in real life. and leave some ashes there, and as we both, as our COVID project, watch the entire Star Trek series, we will stop by NASA,’ he wrote at the time.
“Chris was planning to go with the Scout troop to the Florida Keys in March, so we’ll make sure a part of him gets there,” he added.
“The girls and I are slowly discovering this new reality for our family and we are hugging each other a lot more,” Eileen continued. ‘We finally got therapy appointments for all of us. “That’s why I think we are putting one foot in front of the other on our new path.”