Trekker died from dehydration
Anna:
May 8th, 2007
Having recently written about the new British Standard for adventure holidays, I came across a story which highlights just how important regulation and good practice are in this particular industry. Last summer, a 29-year-old man died in the USA while taking part on a wilderness course run by Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). The tragedy is back in the news because the family have decided to sue the company. With good reason, I feel, after reading about the circumstances of David Buschow’s death.
David had signed up for a “character-forming experience”, set in the wilderness of Utah. For a fit 29-year-old US air force veteran and security guard to perish, you would imagine there must have been some tragic, but unavoidable, accident. Far from it - despite clearly showing signs of dehydration, David was refused water by the camp instructors accompanying the group and eventually collapsed and died. The task that day had been to walk through the unforgiving landscape of Utah’s Dixie Forest National Park in extremely high temperatures with the only access to water being natural sources, which it was up to the group to find. I can see that this was a “survival experience”, but I simply cannot understand that trained instructors would leave a man to die because of a set of rules, would push someone beyond their limits to prove a point. A man is now dead, which BOSS claims is not their responsibility. By signing a waiver, they claim, “Mr Buschow expressly assumed the risk of serious injury or death prior to participating.” Can a company really be allowed to abrogate all responsibilty to protect and preserve life?