Camp Mystic lawsuits filed

[Anonymous]

All of you who have never visited or seen your kids' far-flung camps, you'd better watch out. You think state regulations can save you from malpractice? No. The camps can get away with a ton of stuff. Inspections are few and far between. Ex: you think the debrillator has been revised and is in working order, and you realize the last check-up was 3 years ago... that sort of thing. I noticed that in my daughter's riding barn. They've now fixed the issue. Those matter when the nearest hospital is many miles away and the ambulance/copter takes its time to get to your location.

The bottom line, unless there's been a serious accident recently, I'd bet that most safety procedures aren't 100%. It's only when someone dies or very nearly so, that something gets done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The camp owners should have discussed and involved the grieving families in their decision to reopen, and designing a memorial without family input is terrible.
I know it’s cultish and that has its appeal to some, but I can’t imagine sending my kids to a camp where children died and still have not been found and still knowing absolutely no idea how their last moments played out.

It was God's plan...

Your sarcasm is sick and inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The camp owners should have discussed and involved the grieving families in their decision to reopen, and designing a memorial without family input is terrible.
I know it’s cultish and that has its appeal to some, but I can’t imagine sending my kids to a camp where children died and still have not been found and still knowing absolutely no idea how their last moments played out.

It was God's plan...

Your sarcasm is sick and inappropriate.

NP. I would say it’s sick and appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many parents dont investigate. They just assume someone is taking care of that stuff, even more so with rich people.

I’ll admit I’m guilty of this. DD spent a good chunk of her summers from ages 10-18 at a camp that I never saw much beyond the pickup/dropoff point, which looked lovely and very safe. Last year, she finally took us on a tour of the entire camp and I was shocked at how isolated and remote some of the areas were. I do think that they had excellent emergency plans in place, but I could also see how things could get dangerous really fast.

I mean, it was a camp for rich/upper middle class girls that has been around for generations. A lot of us go off of word of mouth recs from other parents rather than analyzing camp maps and flood risk data.

But yes the camp deserves to be sued. The wife of the camp owner who died had to be helicoptered out one year because of flood waters. They certainly knew how dangerous the situation was.

But maybe you shouldn’t just use word of mouth when it comes to the safety of your kids. That’s the lesson.

I would argue that the sheer STUPIDITY of keeping the girls in the cabins isn't something you could anticipate. Meaning their licenses are all valid, there is a safety plan (supposedly), etc. You cannot anticipate wilful disregard for common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The camp owners should have discussed and involved the grieving families in their decision to reopen, and designing a memorial without family input is terrible.
I know it’s cultish and that has its appeal to some, but I can’t imagine sending my kids to a camp where children died and still have not been found and still knowing absolutely no idea how their last moments played out.

It was God's plan...

Your sarcasm is sick and inappropriate.

I'm the PP and I think the whole situation is sick. But the audience of this camp is the audience of faith in God's will. Which is awful because absolutely none of them deserved it.

[Anonymous]

It floods so bad historically that I'm not sure why people would think it's safe to continue being there?

I say the same about anywhere. I love CA but that there is a disaster waiting to happen earthquake wise. I just wouldn't live there.

It's just that we all look the other way when we want and we are all guilty of it - hindsight 20/20 but if you looked at the history of that place...

The lawsuit is valid but still. You know it's a matter of when.

[Anonymous]

Just curious....I noticed when it happened that the camp did not belong to the American Camp Association. Nor is it on the Newsweek list of America's 500 Best Summer Camps.

Do accreditations like these mean anything? I'm especially interested in ACA accreditation. Does the fact a camp belongs to the ACA any protection?

[Anonymous]

I am embarrassed to admit this but I don’t even know that I would’ve known to ask if the cabins were in a flood plain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The camp owners should have discussed and involved the grieving families in their decision to reopen, and designing a memorial without family input is terrible.
I know it’s cultish and that has its appeal to some, but I can’t imagine sending my kids to a camp where children died and still have not been found and still knowing absolutely no idea how their last moments played out.

It was God's plan...

Your sarcasm is sick and inappropriate.

NP. I would say it’s sick and appropriate.

NP. Joking about the faith of dead girls and their families is "appropriate"?! What a sick, sick human you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the lawsuits and they were devastating. There are many horrific details of how the girls died with eyewitness accounts. Probably the hardest thing to read was in the Peck lawsuit. Lulu Peck journaled she was scared of natural disasters, floods, the dark and storms 2 months before this happened. The way she died was her greatest fear. I didn’t sleep well last night after I saw the photo of her journal.

Would you provide links or suggestions of where to read them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so shameful how they told the kids to stay put. I really don't know how you can justify that decision.

A lot more girls would have died if they had listened. Counselors defied orders and broke windows to escape the cabins. Thank God, but if they had stayed in place like the cabins that did, they would have likely died too. Unbelievable and egregious on the camps behalf.

This was so striking to me. These 18 year old girls who had been told to stay put with their cabins, in this very top-down environment with so few adults, deciding to break the windows with rocks and get their girls to safety. Thank goodness they did. But an important lesson to remember, to trust your own judgement over authority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The camp owners should have discussed and involved the grieving families in their decision to reopen, and designing a memorial without family input is terrible.
I know it’s cultish and that has its appeal to some, but I can’t imagine sending my kids to a camp where children died and still have not been found and still knowing absolutely no idea how their last moments played out.

It was God's plan...

Your sarcasm is sick and inappropriate.

NP. I would say it’s sick and appropriate.

NP. Joking about the faith of dead girls and their families is "appropriate"?! What a sick, sick human you are.

Read the letter the camp sent to families! It was absolutely tone deaf and leaned into this idea. The families are justifiably irate.

[Anonymous]

They had no emergency plans or procedures at all, or training for counselors in handling this situation. They had very few real adults (older than 18). . I worked as a counselor years ago at a different camp and we had many more procedures and plans, in an area with fewer risks. They were completely derelict.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the lawsuits and they were devastating. There are many horrific details of how the girls died with eyewitness accounts. Probably the hardest thing to read was in the Peck lawsuit. Lulu Peck journaled she was scared of natural disasters, floods, the dark and storms 2 months before this happened. The way she died was her greatest fear. I didn’t sleep well last night after I saw the photo of her journal.

Would you provide links or suggestions of where to read them?

Reddit- Kerr County floods

[Anonymous]

I attended a girls dramatic arts camp in the late 70s run by a woman in her late 70s who had run it with her husband until his passing.

There was a fire that summer in the cabin for the youngest girls, a propane tank exploded in the middle of the night. The younger girls who weren't picked up by their parents moved into the main building for the rest of their stay and all the girls kind of surrounded them with love and shared clothing, shoes etc.

No one was hurt but the owner was so traumatized at the idea anyone could have been injured or worser that it was the last year for the camp. The property was sold to a local summer arts festival for rehearsal space and inexpensive lodgings for cast and crew members.

The camp Mystic story is absolutely haunting.