A young Irish student died in a kayaking accident in the US, reports RTE.
Ella Mills of Dublin died last Sunday after an incident on the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., while on an outing with Columbia University’s Whitewater Canoe Club.
This morning, Trinity College, where she studied English, confirmed her death.
After arriving in the United States earlier this month, Ms. Mills enrolled at Columbia University in a dual bachelor’s degree program.
In a statement, a TCD spokesman said the college community is devastated.
“The Trinity College Dublin community is grieving the tragic loss of Ella Mills, an English Studies student who passed away on 17 September 2023. Ella was studying at Columbia University as part of a dual B.A. programme with Trinity. Her family, friends and classmates are in our minds at this difficult time. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam,” they said, reports RTE.
Columbia University said it would provide counselling services to support students following her death and held a vigil last night.
The headteacher of Sutton Park School in Dublin said Ella was a “was much-cherished past student” of the school.
Ronan Walsh offered the school’s sympathies to Ella’s family: “Our hearts are broken for Jo-Ann, Ralph and Ella’s two siblings Isabel and Leo who are in Second Year. This is a truly tragic time. Words fail us all. Our sympathies and thoughts are with Ella’s family and her large group of friends,” reports RTE.
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