Lutherville Girl Dies in Boat Accident During School Trip to Australia
Cameron O’Neill-Mullin, a sophomore at St. Paul’s School for Girls, played soccer for the Brooklandville school.
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UPDATE (5:30 p.m.)—The St. Paul’s School for Girls community was shocked this morning to learn that one of its students died in a boating accident on Tuesday while on a school-sponsored exchange trip in Australia.
Cameron O’Neill-Mullin, a sophomore at St. Paul’s, was on a boating outing with her host family at the time of the accident. A speed boat was pulling O'Neill-Mullin and two others on an inner tube that collided with a tree.
According to The Courier Mail in Australia, "Two teenage girls were killed and their friend is fighting for her life in a Brisbane hospital after a tube-boat ride accident at a recreational water park.
"The three friends were lying on a floating tube being towed by a speed boat at the Goondiwindi Natural Heritage water park ... when they hit a tree on an island in the centre of the waterway about 3 p.m. Two of the girls died at the scene," the article states.
O’Neill-Mullin has been enrolled at schools within the St. Paul’s campus for “as long as she was in school,” said Monica Gillespie, the head of the St. Paul’s School for Girls.
“It’s very heavy hearts today, shock, grief and sadness,” she told Patch earlier this afternoon. “She was an extraordinary scholar, athlete and overall member of our community—just an absolutely extraordinary young woman.
“We are supporting the family by giving them privacy and space to grieve as a family,” she continued.
Gillespie would not detail which sports O'Neill-Mullin played, but Patch wrote about O'Neill-Mullin's soccer goal against Friends School in Baltimore in October. Patch reader Mark Henderson captured her goal on video (see above).
More than 4,800 people have joined the “R.I.P. Paris and Cameron” Facebook group as of 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday. The group started early on Tuesday when word of the accident that killed Paris and Cameron began to circulate. The page's description reads: "You will be missed by everyone around."
Friends and classmates have flooded the group’s wall with messages of love and support.
“Rest in Peace Cameron & Paris ♥ Cameron, the community of spsg amidst mourning speaks the kindest words of you,” wrote Hannah B. Rice. “You were so darling in amnesty and your bubbly presence will be missed in the halls. You will always be treasured and never forgotten.”
Julie Gill, another group member wrote, “Rest in Peace Cameron and Paris ♥ Cameron, you are an amazing person and have impacted so many people. You are a hero to many and will never be forgotten. I love you Camera/Kitty Kitty Cameron. Paris, I have heard so many good things about you ... especially that you are beautiful on the inside and out. See you both on the other side ♥ Rest in Peace, we love you."
Family friend and County Delegate Susan Aumann also expressed her sympathies on the group's Facebook wall.
"Our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to Tricia, Tim and Kylie. Such an incomprehensible tragedy for both families," Aumann wrote.
Grief counselors from St. Paul’s as well as other schools within the Association of Independent Maryland Schools have volunteered their time to help students through the tragedy. The school canceled all after-school activities on Tuesday.
“We’re all here for the kids,” Gillespie said.
About 420 students are enrolled at the St. Paul’s School for Girls, located on Falls Road in Brooklandville. The school teaches girls from fifth through 12th grades.
student
10:49 pm on Tuesday, April 5, 2011
how dare you publish what these girls said on the facebook page. that is so incredibly rude and hurtful. you did not get permission to publish what they said even if it was on facebook. the school is hardbroken and what the students and school community should not be put on the news. im asking you to take out their names or do something, its completely inappropriate.
Katie Bennett
10:23 am on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Facebook is a public forum that anyone can read and anyone, including reporters and writers, can quote as material for stories as long as it is cited. And the quotes the writer included were neither rude nor hurtful. I think the use of Facebook added a lot to this story.
civilized human being
11:49 pm on Thursday, April 7, 2011
I completely agree with what student said and all of you who disrespect what student said are inconsiderate of what a devastation this has been for those who knew those Cameron and Paris. Just because Facebook is a public forum does not give these reporters the right to take what minors have said and use thier full names to directly quote them without permission. The Facebook page for Cameron and Paris is a place where people are dealing with thier grief and trying to share positive memories of these angels with others who knew them. The people who join the page and ask what happened are just as incosiderate as these reporters, who if they really wanted to do thier job right would not use Facebook as a reliable source.
Neversure
10:35 am on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
"student": welcome to the real world. Nothing that Patch posted took away from the fact that the tragic death of this wonderful young lady is a real loss to her family, friends and the community as a whole. It is made obvious that she will be missed by all who knew her. Facebook is a public forum. This should be a lesson to you and your friends to be very careful about what you post on Facebook, as it can be read and spread by anybody who can get on Facebook. This time it was all for the positive. I am so sorry for your loss.
Concerned parent
3:21 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I do not think they should take and publish the names of minors without their consent. Reposting from a facebook page is poor journalism at best.
Katie Bennett
3:28 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Actually I think that it is polite journalism. My assumption is that the journalist either attempted to contact family members and friends and was turned down or chose not to out of respect and instead went to a public source for quotes. Putting your name on a public forum gives anyone consent to use it. If a minor does not want his or her name showing up in various places, he or she should not be on Facebook. I don't think it's right to attack the journalist who was doing nothing wrong. Parents should get their children off Facebook if they are concerned about this.
Nick DiMarco
5:25 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Hello, everyone. My name is Nick DiMarco, I'm the editor of Lutherville-Timonium Patch.
I want to thank everyone for commenting on the story. I completely understand your concerns about Facebook, a tool that has managed to change the way we communicate with one another and with the world. It has also changed the way reporters do their jobs. Our feeling is that it is fair to pull comments posted on a public forum, especially since St. Paul's administrators asked the media not to reach out to friends and family. I wanted to honor that request. But, at the same time, I could not ignore the newsworthy fact related to this story that in just a few hours after the tragic event that nearly 5,000 people — friends, family and even strangers—could band together to celebrate her life. The quotes used were deliberately selected because they reflected the sincerity of the group as a whole.
Concerned parent
5:37 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
You are taking the remarks of children out of their own forum and putting their names in a public published newspaper without their permission or that of their parents. That is wrong on so many levels. I think you could have paraphrased and left their names out of it.
Realist
8:13 am on Thursday, April 14, 2011
I would recommend, in all seriousness, that you ask your daughter to stay away from Facebook.
Neversure
10:20 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I hate to go all negative about this, but for those "concerned parents" out there: Haven't you had a talk with your kids about the whole "Facebook" phenomena? I have been absolutely appalled about some of the very private moments within families that have "GoneViral" thanks to Facebook. And the families are fine with it! But PATCH has been sensitive and very responsible in handling this very painful loss, and have done exactly what the school and the parents have requested. Facebook is a public forum. Never forget that.
Concerned parent
10:13 am on Thursday, April 7, 2011
I have been involved with tragedies at both gettysburg college and south jersey. Never has a newspaper had the gall to publish quotes left by bereaved students on a facebook rip page. Have you noticed that no other reputable newspaper around here has done this either? It may not be illegal, although if you had published my daughters name, we would have consulted our lawyer to find out. But it is unethical. I can't seem to convince you of this, you offer no apology. Nor are your editors willing to edit you and pull this article. So I will never return to a Patch news site again and I encourage all advertisers to think about whether this is the kind of journalism you want to support.
ebowen
2:32 pm on Thursday, April 7, 2011
Patch seems to have handled this quite appropriately. Yes, they pulled some direct comments off Facebook, which is a public forum, whereas other news sites posted within the content of their story a direct link to the entire Facebook page, where with one click any reader can see all comments posted. I'm not sure that referencing a few sincere comments in this article is so terrible in comparison, and neither is unethical.
Neversure
2:47 pm on Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wow. It seems like Patch is really showing themselves to be a class act. Simply quoting a few kind and loving comments as opposed to giving out the link. Good work Patch!
Jenny rylance
6:06 pm on Thursday, April 7, 2011
I am reading this from Australia, and I am amazed that so many readers turned the focus off the tragic loss of one of your brightest young people who was such a credit to her family and the school community she represented.
What could possibly be the difference to reading those lovely comments in a newspaper or the web?
Thanks to the newspaper to drawing my attention to the heartwarming tribute page, and thanks to "student" for sharing your kind and thoughtful words. Jenny Rylance Brisbane Australia
Realist
8:12 am on Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Internet is public domain. Period. If people are worried about having their comments or photos misappropriated, they most certainly shouldn't be contributing to Facebook.