April 7, 2010
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Balcony Tragedy
Almost every year at least one student visiting here for Spring Break falls from a balcony at a condo or motel. This year there have been 4 such falls, and 2 of the young men involved have been killed. Last Friday–Good Friday–a 17 year old boy from Cincinnati fell from the fifth floor balcony of a condo, and he was dead by the time the emergency folks got there. The week before, a 19 year old boy was killed when he fell from a fifth floor balcony at another condon. I didn’t pay much attention to the news of the first death, but the second one touched me. His name was Matt, and he had recently received a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. Matt was a lineman, and he was 6’8” tall. He weighed 290 pounds, and, by all accounts, he was a proverbial “gentle giant.”
My heart mourns Matt’s untimely demise, but it positively aches for his parents. I can just imagine the kind of soul searching they went through before they gave him permission to come here for Spring Break, and I can also imagine the enormous guilt and remorse they feel now on top of their tragic loss. There are no words to comfort those parents, and I lift them and Matt’s siblings up to God in prayer.
ED
Comments (1)
Being in Chicago and because Notre Dame is so close, this was all over the news up here (in addition to being on ESPN). What a tragedy and so young as well. As sad as the situation was, I hope others can learn to be more responsible when drinking.