Notre Dame Student To Be Mourned, Honored
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. (CBS) - Loved ones on Monday will honor Notre Dame student Declan Sullivan, who was killed last week when the wind toppled a hydraulic lift as he taped football practice.
Sullivan, 20, was from Long Grove. He was on top of a scissor lift videotaping the fighting Irish practice as the Great Lakes Cyclone hovered over the area Wednesday. A gust of wind sent the lift crashing down and took Sullivan's life.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Regine Schlesinger Reports
Podcast
Sullivan was a junior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in marketing
Sullivan's funeral is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at St. Mary Parish, at 10 N. Buffalo Grove Rd. in northwest suburban Buffalo Grove.
On Sunday night, mourners waited for a chance to say goodbye at a funeral home in Lake Zurich. A representative for the family said they are grateful for the outpouring of support.
Meanwhile, the accident remains under investigation. Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said last week that weather conditions at the Fighting Irish football practice Wednesday were "unremarkable" before "a pretty extraordinary burst of wind" toppled the tower.
Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman Marc Lotter said Thursday that the agency had an investigator on the scene in South Bend. He said it was too early to say when the agency, which has the authority to levy fines, might release a report.
Some ominous tweets indicate Sullivan was panicking before the fall that took his life.
"Gusts of wind up to 60mph well today will be fun at work... I guess I've lived long enough :-/" Sullivan wrote in one post on Twitter and Facebook.
The sarcasm stopped about an hour later, when he wrote, "Holy f--- holy f--- this is terrifying.''
Sullivan was responsive to some commands as he was being prepared to be put into an ambulance, Swarbrick said.
Sullivan was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend and died shortly arriving.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
