'Suffocation is always possible': NC report reveals sleeping arrangements may have contributed to boy's death at NC wilderness camp
A new report shows staff at a wilderness therapy camp failed to check that a 12-year-old boy was breathing during his first night at the facility, before his death.
The boy, who has been identified in law enforcement records only by his initials, CJH, was found unresponsive around 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 3 at Trails Carolina.
That camp is operated in Transylvania County at Lake Toxaway. Before having its license revoked, the camp was advertised as wilderness therapy program for kids and teens ages 10 to 17.
The boy who died had been required to sleep in a tube-like tent, enclosed by a solid plastic sheet – called a bivy.
Upon discovering that the zipper for the tent was broken, the report says, "staff needed a zip tie out of the tool bag." It doesn’t specify how the zip tie was used.
A staff member told law enforcement that they believed the sleeping arrangements "had a lot to do with" the boy’s death, according to the report, and that "suffocation is always possible if the equipment is being used wrong."
Trails Carolina did not immediately respond to questions about the bivy or other findings in the state’s report.
A Trails Carolina spokesperson previously said it uses the "tent-like weather-proof covers to support the psychological and emotional well being" of the children.
