Wednesday, June 21, 2006
A future University of Kansas student was killed during an educational trip to Costa Rica on June 11. Danielle Tongier would have been a freshman this August.
Fellow classmates Jessica Pierce and Andrew Harpstrite, along with their Spanish teacher Brett Carlson, were also killed.
The 11 students on the trip had been spending the afternoon on the beach and swimming in the Pacific Ocean when a tidal wave came in and pulled them under the water.
Carlson was on the beach at the time and instructed the students to get out of the water, but Tongier and Harpstrite couldn’t get out.
Carlson had gone into the water to help the students, but became engulfed in the water himself.
Pierce, 17, was a licensed lifeguard and also tried to help the others, but drowned as well.
Greg Cartwright, principal of Labette County High School in Alamont where the students attended, said two students were rescued from the water.
He said the students described it as a perfect afternoon for swimming until an unexpected tidal wave came and continued to get worse. They were wading in water that came up to their chest, then the wave came in and they couldn’t touch bottom.
Robert Buddemer, senior scientist at Kansas Geological Survey, said people who visit unfamiliar areas can get caught in strong currants because of inexperience swimming in those types of water.
Before surfers ever get into the ocean they sit on the beach and watch the water to see how and where it moves. Buddemer said swimmers need to do the same thing.
“You need to know something about where you are and how the water reacts,” he said.
Tongier is remembered as a good person by Jay Vanmiddlesworth. Vanmiddlesworth taught Tongier and coached her in tennis.
“She was very happy-go-lucky and always up-beat. Really a good student, the type you’d like to have in your classroom,” he said.
The students and Carlson traveled to Costa Rica on a cultural exchange trip.
Carlson went on a similar trip during college and thought it would be interesting for the students.
“He really liked Costa Rica and wanted the kids to experience it,” Cartwright said.
A memorial for Tongier, Pierce, Harpstrite and Carlson was held June 16 at 6 p.m. Tongier’s funeral was on June 17.
Cartwright said the community is dealing with the accident well, especially because the last body was found at the end of last week.
“It was a terrible accident. We think everything has been recovered, so we can get on with it,” he said.
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