A 14-year-old boy in Oregon died in 2021 when a heavy branch fell on him while he was working on a tree-planting project. His mother has now sued both the boy’s school and the volunteer group that put together the event.
Christopher Robert Declan Kelly was volunteering in Troutdale, a suburb of Portland, on November 6, 2021, as part of his volunteer hours to graduate from Central Catholic High School.
That’s when a big piece of a black cottonwood tree fell 52 feet and hit him in the head. The lawsuit says Kelly kept planting after being hit, but he later died at the scene after emergency workers got there, according to a report from local Fox station KPTV.
The case was brought by Christopher’s mother to the Multnomah County Circuit Court on Thursday. She wants $29 million in compensation.
The claim says that Central Catholic High School and the volunteer group Friends of Trees failed to protect students from bad weather, even though thunderstorms were expected.
The complaint says that the host groups did not give volunteers helmets or take them to safety after the last thunderclap, which is what the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say should be done.
The story says that thunder and strong winds were heard a mile away from where the volunteers were planting trees. It says that some students who weren’t dressed right for the weather were huddled under a tent, and a Friends of Trees expert went to her car to get out of the rain.
It was said in a release by Central Catholic:
Our community was deeply saddened by the tragic death of freshman Christopher Kelly in 2021 and continues to share our sympathy with the Kelly family. We were just made aware of the lawsuit this morning and it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.
I asked for comment from both the plaintiffs’ lawyers and Friends of Trees, but I didn’t get an answer right away.
