Student Filming Practice Dies When Tower Topples
Updated: 10/27/10 10:18 p.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) - A Notre Dame student died Wednesday after the video tower from which he was filming football practice fell over. The student has been identified as 20-year-old Declan Sullivan, of Long Grove.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports the speculation is that high winds are to blame for the freak accident that killed the young student.
The university said the accident occurred at the LaBar Practice Complex.
Sullivan was perched atop a hydraulic scissor lift at the football practice field, holding a video camera, when a wind gust perhaps as strong as 50 miles an hour caught the lift and toppled it, sending the student to his death. The lift came crashing down onto a street adjacent to the practice field.
Sullivan was transported to a South Bend hospital, where he died.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss,'' Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins said in a release. "Our hearts go out to the student's family and friends and our prayers and profound sympathies are with them during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of someone so young is a terrible shock and a great sadness. Our entire community shares in the family's grief.''
Sullivan, a junior, was working for the athletic department's video crew. He was shooting video of football practice when he and the lift were sent flying.
It is believed that scissor lift was at full extension, 40 to 50 feet in the air, when it went down.
Sullivan was a marketing and film student at Notre Dame. He also wrote for the school student newspaper, The Observer.
The Fighting Irish, who host Tulsa this Saturday, canceled post-practice interviews after the accident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
