Death in camp? | Imamother

merrygold

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 1:40 pm

I'm writing a novel set in a frum girls' sleep away camp. During the summer there's a freak accident and a girl dies. I'm trying to figure out how the other campers would manage. Have you ever had a girl die in your camp? What was it like?

Thanks!

thunderstorm

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 1:54 pm

That sounds very traumatic. I have not been in a camp when a girl died. But I was in camp when a girl had a really bad injury in a freak accident that left her in a coma for a while and we were all hysterical about it, saying Tehillim and crying etc. Baruch HaShem she survived . But those two weeks after she got injured were really hard on the girls. She never came back to camp because she needed to rehabilitate etc.

thunderstorm

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 2:09 pm

merrygold wrote:

Thanks so much. I'm sure it's really hard on the girls in camp. Did the camp change any of the activities or did the summer continue as planned?

I think for one day the camp was in turmoil and there was a kinus to say Tehillim. It happened about 23 years ago so my memory is a bit vague. I believe that must of the camp went on as normal, but her own bunk didn't. They were too upset. If I recall correctly the counselors went to visit her in the hospital. I think her best friend went home because she wasn't coping. But that's all I could remember.

sky

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 2:36 pm

When I was in camp about 25 years ago 2 counsler s we’re very badly injured in a day off accident. One was in a coma. Both needed extensive work on their faces and body.
Iirc we said tehillim that day. I don’t remember what else. There was also some non professional counseling.

harriet

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 2:47 pm

If chas veshalom what you are describing would occur, there would be grief counseling (from professionals), tehilim, etc and aside from that, camp would likely continue as always (although it would also depend on the age of the camper it happened to and what "continue as always" looked like that day-meaning, if a concert was scheduled for that night it would likely be canceled but an "ordinary" night activity would continue as planned)

FranticFrummie

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:00 pm

harriet wrote:

Not quite the same situation, but similar. When DD was in seventh grade, a girl in her class was murdered in cold blood. It was horrific, and it was all over the news.

The school had an assembly and memorial, brought in extra counselors, and the following day was back to normal. DD was ticked off, because she was still shaken over this. She was friends with this girl who was very shy, and DD was just getting to know her better.

DD thought that one day of observance wasn't enough, and that two to three days would have been more respectful for those who actually knew her. She didn't want time out of school, she just wanted a little slack and understanding from the teachers.

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:12 pm

I know you're looking for personal accounts from "imas," but you can find plenty of interviews and articles about real events online. Within the last not-too-many years, a camper died at a Jewish camp in Pennsylvania, and a counselor died at a camp in California (if I'm remembering this correctly).

Rutabaga

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:15 pm

It's been many years, but when I was a teenager there was a boy who died of meningitis in a Pennsylvania boys camp. The nurse realized it was something serious and got him to the hospital but they weren't able to save him. At the same time there was a stomach virus going around the camp with some of the same symptoms. Many of the boys were freaking out that they were going to die too. IIRC, it was the last week of camp and a lot of parents drove up to to bring their sons home early.

Btw, you might get more responses if you post in a forum that's amother enabled.

Ruchel

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:41 pm

I'd never buy this book for my kids. Never.

That said something similar happened in a camp where my husband was except it was a counselor. It was very tragic. There was no grief counselor or therapy, it was about the classic frum way of dealing, prayers and stuff. It was hidden from kids when possible.

InnerMe

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:49 pm

Simple1 wrote:

I think such a book can be too traumatic for many young readers, even for adults. Or it should come with a warning for mature readers/tragic content.

This is what I'm thinking.
I know you weren't asking for advice on whether to write this topic.. but it's just an extremely scary scenario. What about something like thunderstorm wrote- a significant casualty happens- but without the girl dying?

mommyhood

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:52 pm

Rutabaga wrote:

It happened in Dora Golding in 1999. I had a family member there that summer and most kids did go home right away. It was real chaos I remember my family member coming home with their clothes in garbage bags because they couldn't find their suitcase. The family of the boy sued the camp and nurses and I believe they won.

There as also a boy who fell out of a tree at camp and died. I found this article.
http://crownheights.info/gener.....camp/

NovelConcept

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:52 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Not quite the same situation, but similar. When DD was in seventh grade, a girl in her class was murdered in cold blood. It was horrific, and it was all over the news.

.

Horrible, horrible, horrible.
Was this a frum girl? I don't recall a frum child being murdered in America other Leiby Kletzky, a"h. Either way, frum or not, this is just horrific.

NovelConcept

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 3:54 pm

And BTW OP, I think I know your plot, if you are who I think you are. And yes, way too traumatic, depressing, and not something people want to read about. Though you are a fantastic writer. If you are who I think you are.

gingertop

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 4:39 pm

momX4 wrote:

I would not read it.

If my memory is correct, a boys climbed a tree in Stolin Camp and fell. he died from his injuries.

I remember that. I knew his sister. Would not want to read about such an incident in a work of fiction.

thunderstorm

Tue, Oct 30 2018, 4:56 pm

momX4 wrote:

I would not read it.

If my memory is correct, a boys climbed a tree in Stolin Camp and fell. he died from his injuries.

Yes. I remember this and he had just applied to mesivta. The Rosh yeshiva of that mesivta didn't know about the tragedy and had called the parents the morning of the levaya to tell them that he was accepted into the yeshiva . They had to inform him that they were on the way to his levaya. I heard this first hand from the mashgiach of that yeshivas wife.