[quote]The 18-year-old student critically injured in an explosion Thursday at an Ottawa high school has died from his injuries.
Eric Leighton died shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday in hospital, following an explosion during an auto shop class at Mother Teresa Catholic High School, police said.
The Ottawa Catholic School Board plans to have counsellors, chaplains and support staff available at the school tomorrow for students and staff.
Emergency crews were called to the school at 10:40 a.m. Thursday morning after an empty 55 US gallon drum containing oil residue exploded in the school's auto shop class, according to a joint statement from Ottawa police, fire services and paramedics.
Leighton was rushed to Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus. His injuries were critical, and at one point he was revived after having no vital signs.
The high school has 1,480 students and 130 staff. It sits in the leafy, bedroom suburb of Barrhaven in the city's southwest end.
On Thursday evening, students returned to the school to join friendship and sympathy circles. Classmates of Leighton's described him as popular and athletic.
[b]'Everybody loved him'[/b]
"He was one of our main athletes. He was like the jock of the school and he was so popular, and everybody loved him," said Nick Romain, one of the teen's classmates.
"There was not one person who Eric didn’t affect, who he didn’t talk to, and it just breaks my heart. He was a close friend and it sucks that this happened.”
The last time Brenna Thompson saw Eric was at the prom last Friday.
"He was really into sports, like lacrosse. He was really good," she said, holding back tears. "He had a little sister and stuff. He always looked out for her and he cared about everybody."
Four other students and a 33-year-old male teacher were taken to hospital as a precaution to check for possible concussive injuries.
A hazardous materials team has deemed the school safe.
A drum of oil in the shop is believed to have ignited, causing the blast, according to witnesses. It is not known exactly how the drum exploded, but students from the class said it contained peppermint oil, which is combustible when exposed to heat.
[b]Apparently building barbecues[/b]
Police Const. Marc Sousy and fire services spokesman Marc Messier both said the students were believed to be building barbecues in the class.
The school was evacuated and students transported to Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School. In a release, the Ottawa Catholic School Board said a team of psychologists, staff and chaplains was at Longfields-Davidson Heights to provide emotional counselling to staff and students.
Students and a teacher told CBC News that the school's public address system was down, and the order to evacuate had to be given from class to class.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson issued a statement expressing shock over the incident. "My heart goes out to the students and teachers at the school, their families and their friends," he said.[/quote]
[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/05/26/ottawa-school-explosion.html[/url]
Very sad news out of my neighborhood. I didn't know him personally, but a lot of people at my school were friends with him. Everyone was hoping that he pull through, especially after they revived him on route to the hospital.
:frown:
Sorry to hear about that, even if you didn't know him that well
I feel bad for the girl, she last saw him at prom! That was her last moments with him, having a good time at prom, now hes gone. :frown:
Making Barbecues....
Something tells me he took a cutting torch to the side of the barrel to split it in two and didn't think to make sure there was no residue in it. Peppermint oil isn't the kind of thing you find in massive quantities in a school.
It sounds like it would be a painful way to die. :ohdear:
[QUOTE=MIPS;30074825]Making Barbecues....
Something tells me he took a cutting torch to the side of the barrel to split it in two and didn't think to make sure there was no residue in it. Peppermint oil isn't the kind of thing you find in massive quantities in a school.[/QUOTE]
Either that or a spark fell into a halved drum and set the whole thing off - it really is an unfortunate accident.
Of course, everyone loved the victim making this more of a tragedy.
That has to suck
He might have had something to do with the explosion..
[editline]27th May 2011[/editline]
Not that it matters anymore
Heard on the radio this morning the exact same thing I guessed: He was cutting the barrel in two and didn't check for residue in the barrel so it ignited and went off like a bomb.
Everybody loved him.
I smell post mortum nice guy syndrome.
Sad, sounded like he woulda been someone.
This happens right as the closest friend of my cousin was shot by some fucking thugs. I don't like this summer already.
[QUOTE=-Ben_Wolfe-;30077878]Of course, everyone loved the victim making this more of a tragedy.[/QUOTE]
It may already have a name, but I like to call it the "Micheal Jackson Syndrome". A pretty simple theory really; as soon as someone dies, particularly someone famous, all of the negative facets of their existence are swept under the rug and we only remember the positive side of them.
So via death, a creepy, alleged child molester is remembered as one of the greatest musicians of the past few decades. It works for other artists and even men of other fields like mathematics.
There are exceptions. If your kill-to-death ratio is high enough (Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Stalin, etc) "Micheal Jackson" Syndrome is nullified.
This is some explosively shocking news.
[QUOTE=-Ben_Wolfe-;30077878]Of course, everyone loved the victim making this more of a tragedy.[/QUOTE]
And all the people who didn't like him are now realizing how silly they were acting.
I hate reading stuff like this. :smith:
[QUOTE=Badballer;30090723]I hate reading stuff like this. :smith:[/QUOTE]
Then don't read it.
[QUOTE=ChristopherB;30086077]It may already have a name, but I like to call it the "Micheal Jackson Syndrome". A pretty simple theory really; as soon as someone dies, particularly someone famous, all of the negative facets of their existence are swept under the rug and we only remember the positive side of them.
So via death, a creepy, alleged child molester is remembered as one of the greatest musicians of the past few decades. It works for other artists and even men of other fields like mathematics.
There are exceptions. If your kill-to-death ratio is high enough (Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Stalin, etc) "Micheal Jackson" Syndrome is nullified.[/QUOTE]
I'm pretty certain that Michael Jackson was never a child molester.
Damn this was really close to me
[QUOTE=.FLAP.JACK.DAN.;30090773]I'm pretty certain that Michael Jackson was never a child molester.[/QUOTE]
[quote]So via death, a creepy, [u][b]alleged[/b][/u] child molester is ...[/quote]
I'm an Senior at the school and I experienced the entire thing. It was scary as hell.
I'm in my 2nd period class on the 3rd floor. Principle comes into our room saying our school is in secure classroom (used for indirect threats in or around the area. Also these type of things go over the PA but it was broken at the time due to the massive thunderstorm the night before). Our class is confused but we continue. 10 minutes later, she comes back in saying that the school needs to be evacuated to the other high school across from us. We now have that feeling that something serious has happened.
We quickly go outside and see lots of ambulances, police cars, and firetrucks around the auto shop. People are starting to freak out at this point.
We arrive at the school and are sent to the gym (which is huge BTW). They tell us that they are sending us home and that you need to either sign yourself out (if you're over 18) or have a parent or guardian sign you out. I was in the latter group.
While waiting for my ride, I'm hearing rumors float around on what happened (since the police and teachers are not telling us anything). No one was really sure what was going on besides that fact that there was an explosion, 3 are injured, one is in critical condition. This was the most accepted one at the time.
When people started hearing the critically injured was Eric, many of the senior girls started to break down.
Later, the senior grade was moved to another room for us. We all packed in and were given water bottles and tissues. The entire room was silent with the exception of the girls quietly crying in the corners.
A religion teacher came in and gave a prayer for Eric and his family. It helped calm down the room.
We were then moved again to the library. But my ride home came, so I took it.
Later, I check CBC.ca for updates on the situation. The rumor from before was right. But at the same time, I just learned that Eric died from his injuries.
Fuck. Not good.
I knew that while school was going to be open tomorrow, no one would have the motivation or the mood to do anything.
**The next day**
I wake up. It's raining very heavily.
I knew it was going to be a shitty day.
I arrive at the school. Police and officials from the school board are there, and news trucks are stationed right off school property.
I walk in. Looks normal so far.
I go to my 2nd period class to get my stuff. The teacher there is visibly shaken and looked like he was crying earlier. He says that today is just whatever you want to do. He wasn't going to teach anything. I get my stuff and go back to my locker. Emptied out my lunch from the previous day (we couldn't go back to our lockers yesterday). Contents inside were all rotten. Nearly puked.
After that, I go to my first period class. This teacher was shaken but didn't show it. Again, no class for today.
Two of my best friends come in the door. Both are shaken and very upset. One of them had a complete breakdown.
Left the class and went to the atrium. All the seniors were there talking and comforting each other. Teachers were also there, some of them crying. Some of the seniors were in suits, others wearing blue or purple (part of a Facebook event as a way to respect him) The chapel was open where you could write your thoughts and prayers towards Eric and his family and pray quietly.
The entire day was like this. I left the school at lunch with another friend as I had nothing else to do there.
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This is what I had to deal with for the past 36 hours. The entire thing was very devastating to the school as a whole.
You guys say whatever you want about him(I'm not even going to bother arguing on this matter. It's not worth my time). But Eric was a very popular and nice guy. Everyone loved him.
I'm not making this up. This isn't some shit to make the entire thing look more tragic than it is. [b]HE WAS POPULAR[/b]. The entire school was mourning his death. I've never seen them do that with anyone I knew that passed away in the school over the years. He was the kind of guy that was very nice if you knew him well.
I may not have liked him or known him very well (I know friends that do though), but he was a cool guy.
I, along with the school will miss him dearly.
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