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Subscribe to RSSLONDON -- An American teenager collapsed and died after going swimming at a Scottish beach, officials said.
Evan Dube, a first-year student at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, was working at an archaeological research project in the Shetland Islands, police said.
Dube, from Plaistow, N.H., was with a group of 10 students from Bates College who went to a beach in Lerwick for a barbecue on Saturday night, police said in a statement.
"Shortly afterwards Evan went into the water and after coming ashore appears to have collapsed," police said.
Dube, 19, was airlifted to the local hospital, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, according to police.
While there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, an autopsy was planned for Monday, a police spokeswoman told msnbc.com.
Dube's family had been informed of his death, police said.
"Bates College has been shaken and deeply saddened to learn that first-year student Evan Dube died," the liberal arts college said in a statement. "At this time we have no other information about the incident to offer -- simply that we have lost a member of our Bates community long before his time. Evan's fellow students in Scotland are receiving grief counseling and will return to Boston on Tuesday."
A memorial service was held at Bates on Sunday. A spokesman for the college was not immediately available for comment.
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Leave a Comment:
And this is news-why. People die everyday from unusual occurrences.
I tend to agree with you. While this is a very sad story and I hate to see a kid this young die for no apparent reason, I do not understand what makes it a headline story on a national news outlet like MSNBC.
My condolences to his family and friends. I hope that they can determine the cause and that there was no foul play involved.
A nineteen-year-old dies after going for a swim in the ocean?
I'd say that's worth a line or two in the news.
Ah, nice to see the anti-msnbc crowd of trolls out using the death of a teen as opportunity.
No one made any of you read it. How about you let us choose what we think is important in the news by reading it or not. If you don't like the story feel free to go read somewhere else.
How sad....I hope they find a cause of death and I am sorry for his family's loss.
If I'm not mistaken isn't the area around Scotland surrounded by the North Sea? Not exacly where one would go swimming, that water is cold. Sounds like the effects of hypothermia. Sorry the kid didn't make it.
OK I know that I didn't need to read the story but I thought that there might be some real importance to it. I am sure that this is very important to the parents and relatives of this 19 year old but I am curious as to why this story in particular was written to make the national news. How many US citizens die overseas and how many make the news. If this turns out to be something other than natural causes then it would make sense for the story to be written but at this point this does not seem to be the case. Would it have made any difference if a 65 year old died of a heart attact off the same beach? If it did then this story should not have been written.
Simple. The title is close enough to suggest that some type of contaminant was in the water and caused his death. Enough folks will click on it for that reason alone making the article quite profitable. Clicks = revenue.
I know of a guy who died after brushing his teeth. Another one who collapsed after looking at his dog. The lady up the street went nosedown after washing her car.
All tree were Scots.
He probably died from hypothermia. Why would an hone go swimming in Scotland at this time iof year. Or any for that matter.
Swam in the North Sea in mid June one year while on vacation in Holland. I was the only one in my group that went out past about knee deep because the water was cold, so hypothermia could be the cause as maddog suggested.
There's lots of stuff on msnbc that isn't exactly "news". that why I go here you get a wide variety of junk and left wing non tolerance. An example is someone criticizing why any one would read this.
Maybe it's news because of this:
Still swimming in sewage on Scotland’s beaches
An autopsy is in order. Until then, everything is speculation.
I'm guessing this was something cardiac related.
The water in that area is very cold, even in mid-summer, and jumping into it will cause a massive increase in blood pressure and heart rate.
I've jumped into frigid water before for 2, 3 minutes and my heart was pounding for an hour afterwards.
Right there with you. A few lines in a local newspaper but a lead story on a national site?
Too Early in the day for a politician to have daily hoof in mouth disease?
Don't you love it when one person's opinion is so much more worthwhile than another's? Don't you also love it when people are slammed for expressing their opinions?
The reason this is important may be many-fold: BSMNC's readership is flagging, there wasn't anything more worthwhile to fill up the fluff space on the empty pages, the editors are trying to keep the readers at the editors' levels (grade 4), proof that if you sensationalize a headline anybody would read it, etc.
Exactly how cold is the North Atlantic in early May?
Hypothermia does not kill in that manner. If he made it out of the water any effects of hypothermia would quickly dissipate in the comparatively warm air.
You'd think nobody had ever seen groups like the L Street Brownies taking their traditional new years day dip in Boston Harbor. People of all ages participate, have been for decades, and I've yet to hear of anybody dying from hypothermia at one of these events.
Does this kid have a relative working for MSNBC?
do you have any working brain cells?
Yes!
Maybe the Irish man knows something.
"sarg" and "denver"... and we care whether or not YOU think this is a valid news story? It's not all about you!
Much more then meets the eye going on here. What makes this occurrence special ?
Since September 30, 2002, the Department of State of the United States has been required to record and make publicly available details statistics of United States citizens who die overseas from non-natural causes. The department's Bureau of Consular Affairs includes details of where, when and what category of death was suffered by an American citizen overseas. The registry is not comprehensive – most Americans who die overseas are resident abroad and may not be registered with the local US embassy, and the registry does not include deaths of certain government andmilitary personnel.
Based on the registry, 1,798 American citizens died abroad from the start of the record period to 31 December, 2004. Not surprisingly given the large number of visitors and retirees, more Americans died Mexico than any other country, with 460 lives lost. The country that claimed the second largest number of lives was Iraq, with 70 of the recorded 84 deaths caused by terrorism. Thailand came next with 61 lives, although this may be larger given that this figure only includes a fraction of the American deaths coming from the Boxing Day tsunami. Inexplicably, the Dominican Republic came in at fourth place with 60 deaths, of which 24 involved homicide and 17 involved automobile accidents. Other countries that claimed large numbers of American citizens include Costa Rica (56 deaths), Canada (48), Australia (43), Germany (42), Honduras (32) and Columbia (31).
Since an autopsy hasn't been done yet, how do they know it was non-natural and thus required to be reported? Nothing like being premature.
Loch Ness Monster
Idiot.....your effort at being clever is neither appropriate nor amusing. Shame on you. I hope this kid's parents don't read your thoughtless comment. There is a time and place for everything....
Faux moral outrage aside, the geography just doesn't work out for that one. Loch Ness (Nessy's purported home) is on the mainland of Scotland. The Shetland Islands are actually quite a ways away to the northeast, out in the middle of the ocean, on the dividing line between the Atlantic and North Sea. On a side note, it gets a little tiresome that all so many Americans know about this beautiful, fascinating country is that silly legend. The Shetland Islands have some of the most amazing archaeological sites in Europe.
How do you know that Nessy doesn't have a secret tunnel that leads to the Shetland Islands? Perhaps that's where he summers.
Haha! Or maybe he was swimming bigfoot. Whatever happened, it's sad because this guy was the beginning of his life.
Some legislators are pushing for life "beginning" at conception - not 19+ years after birth.
Hopefully his parents don't ever read the mindless drivel written on msnbc - let alone any posts to the articles. But I'm betting they are otherwise occupied than to read thoughtless comments or faux sympathetic comments.
WOW!!! Really "thinker"? Thanks, I will definitely sleep better now that I know YOU believe the parents aren't reading these comments - thoughtless, faux sympathetic, or even the irrelevant ones written by unintelligent, pseudo-philosophic individuals who have nothing better to do than to read mindless drivel and comment on other's posts to flaunt his wit and sarcasm, or lack thereof. Color me IMPRESSED!
toointeresting - And therefore you added exactly what you railed against. Good night and glad I could be of comfort to you!
R.I.P bro!
It's hard enough to lose a child, but to have one overseas for non-military reasons die so unexpectedly, must be especially difficult. I'm curious to know what the autopsy will reveal and hope that msmbc follows up on this. My condolences to the family and friends of this young man.
I checked the weather in the Shetlands. The air was around 52 degrees Fahrenheit and the water was around 54 degrees Fahrenheit. I wonder if it was cold related.
There we go.. an answer to my question from above. Too cold to go in without at least a full wet suit.
Must not have a been a big news day. I just don't see how this story merits a headline. Are we going to now hear about every death of every person in the US every day? I mean, that would actually be sort of interesting, if they had a site that mini-biographed every young person's death every day.
Here's a trick. Turn off your computer, stay in bed or overall don't do anything which takes you to this website. That way you don't have to waste your time or ours expounding your dissatisfaction with the quality of the news you choose to click on.
Translated: troll somewhere else.
I don't interpret anything he said as trolling; he made a legitimate observation. It sucks that the young man died but can we ask why it is national news without you getting your panties in a bunch. I'm not attacking MSNBC; I'm genuinely curious. Why out of everyone who died today was this guy featured in a national news story? Again, no offense.
Scientist1, who says the young man didn't die of natural causes? The article and headline makes it seem as though the foreign beach was somehow to blame.
It was the bagpipes, wasn't it? How many more will die until bagpipes are banned?
biggest laugh all day thanks to you. have a good one.
~~ congenitive heart failure ~~
the college is 10 minutes away from my house. He will be sadly missed. And it is no body's business b.t.w. what the cause of death was, except for the family and government agencies that are madated to record fact of over seas deaths of American Civilians.
Sorry Kim,
The only reason I clicked on the story was to discover the cause of death.
Kim if it was no ones business as to the cause of death then it should not have been written. Once it reaches national attention by the main stream media then it becomes of interest. I am sorry blame MSNBC because it was their story. If but for this story no one would be curious other than those who were most closely effected. This is a sad story that belongs in the hands of the family and close friends not on the front page of MSNBC. If somehow the autopsy reveals something that we should know then write the story.
In fact bagpipes are the only musical instruments that have been banned for their use as a 'weapon of war'.
Swimming in Lerwick at any time of year is a very cold proposition---- possibly hypothermia?
Not sure about the creatures in that particular body of water, but I know in some areas there are jelly fish that, when stung by them, have the ability to adversely affect breathing.
I agree Martha.Sounds like the beach or Scottish beaches have a special lethality.Sorry about the kid.
What?!? Please tell me this is poorly conveyed sarcasm. Please. It is so hard to tell on these message boards when one is being serious or not...
The headline did make it sound like the beach was the cause of death. That's why most of us clicked on it. Seriously, if he was in Scotland, could he have been swimming at an American beach or a French beach? Why emphasize that it was a Scottish beach rather than just saying that the student died while studying abroad.
That's what I was getting at.Their wording offered a slightly different message to some of us.As some have said.Hypothermia can kill you easily. Years ago I remember a story about a guy,it seems in south America somewhere,was in the jungle and rappelling by a waterfall.He was in the JUNGLE-air temp 85+ ? died of hypothermia from spray in waterfall of 60 degrees. Sounds warm but wet and almost 40 degrees below body temp-killed him in approx 1 hour
The occurrence is tragic. The headline is misleading, and the story is not worthy of national news. I can imagine enraged headline scanners and conspiracy theorists calling talk shows today ripping into the Obama administration for its weak stance on Scotch perfidy.
Scotch Perfidy? Scotch is a drink. Scots or Scottish indicates an origin in Scotland. However ver, I agree with you: a weak stance on Scotland or Scotch is a cause for alarm. lol
Swimming in Scotland in May, my guess is he froze to death.
You are not to swim for 30 minutes after eating "Haggis"..............on second thought it's better to not have eaten "Haggis" at all.
gtouch...I LOVE haggis...
modern versions of this dish are often made with fine Scottish whisky...& are superb !
no need to knock this revered Scottish dish, just because you are looking for a way to be "clever"
remember a nice young man died on that beach...or do you make silly jokes at funerals, too ?
Sorry to hurt your appreciation of Haggis but I will go with the majority and make fun of it. Hated it both times I tried it in Scotland. And how do you know this man was "nice" what information did you use to come to this conclusion? As far as you know he may have been a child rapist or a murderer (not saying he was) you don't know.
organ meat can tase quite fine...I've had this dish in many parts of the world and sometimes it is rather bland but at many other times, quite spectacular...
I'm not Scottish, but I do know a good thing when I see it...
the rest of your silly response says more about you than you could possibly know
making jokes at the expense of a dead man certainly does define who you are...bet those who make jokes about Haggis would choose a much better time to do so
That I'm wittier than you..........Thank you I accept your apology.
gtouch...nit witty is more like it...closely related to dim wit
Let's see what Sylvia says........Yada, Yada, Yada.......Yawn.
Haggis in your scotch - what a way to ruin an otherwise good drink.
As for haggis causing the death - perfectly plausible.
How can one ever be serious about haggis?
I must agree with a few of the posters concerning hypothermia, or better still, a nasty shock to the heart and blood system in general! Having dipped my toes in the waters of the North Sea, I understand how the total immersion of one's body could lead to a total shutdown of all systems.
Studies have been done on why persons rescued from very cold water die when they are brought out of the water and warmed up. The conclusion is that when in the water, blood circulation to the skin is reduced to conserve body heat, causing the blood near the body surface to become quite cold. If warmed up quickly when removed from the water, the body immediately restores normal circulation to the skin, which causes a fatal flood of chilled blood to the vital organs. A person coming out of very cold water should be warmed up gradually to allow time for the cold blood near the skin to warm up before resuming normal circulation.
This young man probably dashed directly to the fire upon emerging from his swim, triggering that fatal surge of chilled blood.
Liberal Arts college !!!!!! He had just realized, no job market for rock hunters.
Prays for his family.
so you knock 'em down earlier in this post & they you pray for them...such a hypocrite
And where did I knock em down........lets see I attacked "Haggis"......I questioned you on how you determined he was a "nice" guy which you did not answer. So like you other post you seem to not know what you are posting. I said prayers for his family and you take exception to that........well I guess may not be a "nice" person if you disagree with that if you don't believe in God that's ok but don't attack those that want to pray.
haggis should only be attacked by a worms in a compost heap. or a garbage disposal.
what a wuss! good riddance you weakling.. how can you die from swimming in water? LOL
Move along, troll.
Why don't you try swimming in the water he just did and see what happens to you. Maybe you can make national news as well.
Sad story. Even worse is the fact that this kid attended Bates College. The school is located in Lewiston, Maine as the article said and this place is the arm pit of Maine. Everyone's on welfare and these poor parents pay 50k a year for their kids to attend a school that is literally in the grossest area ever. Bates College-where rich kids use their parents money to buy drugs right next door.
It was that gas leak off the Scottish coast! Nothing wrong with linking two things that might not be connected, how the world works and how ancient religions were devised!