Overview
- Local crews found an 8-year-old camper and a counselor struck by a fallen tree at Camp Chickami and called a medical helicopter to evacuate the child to Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday morning.
- The child, an 8-year-old boy from Sudbury, was later pronounced dead at the hospital and the counselor suffered minor injuries and has been released from care.
- Wayland police and fire officials describe the event as a large tree taking down another tree in a domino effect and say an active investigation is under way to find out how the trees failed.
- The West Suburban YMCA closed Camp Chickami for the rest of the week, is offering grief counseling and virtual parent sessions, and says it follows an annual tree-safety plan while seeking to learn how this happened.
- The death echoes a similar tree-fall fatality earlier this year and could prompt closer review of tree-inspection and risk-management practices at wooded sites that serve children.