But even more sadly there are also teenagers who never got home.
Kristen Chase was one of them.
In 1990 wilderness therapy was the thing. Many teenagers without issues were exposed to the concept because their parents believed so-called experts that wilderness therapy could fix everything. Even putting amputated parts back on to the body again. It was an insane time.
One of the teenagers who were exposed to the wilderness therapy concept was Kristen Chase.
Her health was far from perfect. Articles state:
. . that Kristen suffered from bouts of coughing up blood, stomach pain, urinary burning and frequency, difficulty running, menstrual difficulty and a knee injury."
Regardless of clear evidence that she never should have been anywhere near a wilderness program, she ended up in one. It resulted in her death.
She was not the first teenager to die in a wilderness program. She was not the last. Today she is just a number in a huge list of teenagers who have died in in-patient programs. For her family she was more than a number. She was a daughter, a family member who never got to live out the potential she had.
Today there are memorial blogs for teenagers like her who never got back home from what was supposed to be treatment. And these blogs grow. New names are added.
Each name is a tragedy, a loss.
When will it ever stop?
We cannot answer this because legislation allowing teenagers to live a good life with friends, beers and parties are not in place.
Here are some links about her:
- Father sues Challenger over daughter's death (Deseret News)
- Kristen Chase - 1990 (Today a child died - memorial blog)
