Columbia University Student from Ireland Dies While Kayaking on the Potomac River: 'Very Difficult Time'

The Potomac River.Photo:Getty

Getty

A Columbia University student died while kayaking on the Potomac River with a group from the school on Sunday, officials said.

Ella Mills, a junior who had recently arrived from Dublin as a student in Columbia’s dual BA program with Trinity College, was on a trip with the university’s Whitewater Kayaking Club when the accident occurred,according to Lisa Rosen-Metsch, dean of the Columbia School of General Studies.

Along with three others, Mills’ kayak capsized while descending the Little Falls rapid, local whitewater kayaker Tim Atwelltold NPR.

“I saw all three of them flip one after the other. And with the speed of the current, they just didn’t see it coming when they flipped,” Atwell told the outlet.

Atwell said he paddled to her side as soon as he could, but Mills' spray skirt — a piece of gear that is used to seal a rider inside the kayak — was caught between rocks.

“We got to her within seconds,” he told NPR. “But her head was submerged under water. It was a futile effort. She was really stuck.”

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The Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. has opened an investigation into Mills’ death, per NPR.

In a letter to students in the university’s general studies program, Rosen-Metsch informed students about Mills’ death.

“Ella had a love for learning, was intellectually curious, and passionate about literature—eager to soak in new ways of looking at literature and viewing the world as a literary scholar,” Rosen-Metsch wrote.

source: people.com