Son Was Killed in Teen Wilderness Camp Nightmare

Lynn joins The Doctors to share her experience sending her teen son that lacked confidence to a wilderness camp designed for troubled kids. Six days in, she received a call no mother should get.
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The Doctors is an Emmy award-winning daytime talk show hosted by ER physician Dr. Travis Stork, plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon and OB-GYN Dr. Nita Landry.
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[@rachelmarieLMT]

My childhood friend Corey was sent to a wilderness camp after his parents caught him smoking weed when he was 15. On the last night of the retreat each person had to set up camp and spend the night alone. Corey set his tent up under a tree that unfortunately before in the night from heavy snow and killed him. Corey wasn't a bad kid, he did well in school and was a sweet, caring person. He smoked weed once in a while. He didn't need to be sent away.

[@WolffyTheWolf911]

Rachel Magowan weeds not even bad. I mean ik that was back in... But weed? Really? I'm sorry that happened though.

[@cicigig9]

i’m so sorry this happened.. these camps are disgusting

[@klearlyclouds]

I’m so sorry for your loss. Ever since 8 passengers got exposed lots of videos have been coming out and a channel named SLO4N used your story in one of his videos 🙏🏾

[@americasanchez8698]

I'm sorry for what happened but just a question did you put this on another comment section on like a 8 passenger vid?

[@videoluvr4204]

@MA S marijuana isnt legal for children, same way as alcohol isnt legal for children LOL

[@wdtony]

I went to a program like this as a kid and was tortured and brainwashed. I can’t believe it’s still happening and no laws to regulate these torture camps.

[@minecraftvegan3989]

wdtony you can blame all the state lobbyists in places like utah

[@jackson.denzler.]

What camp?

[@sarabakeer2066]

What did they do to you?

[@hammymemez9098]

Same man. Teen Challenge Prayer Mountain Boys Academy

[@kevinpappers4494]

I watched the brat camp series.... They send them to a place that has a rule that says no talking.... Pretty sure the constitution gives the right to free speech.... Also pretty sure law trumps rule

[@tiffanysingleton9693]

Oh god, that terrible . And you know what I realized Chad from 8 passengers in at one right now. I’m so sorry.

[@tania2299]

Ikr i hope he's okay

[@summershymanski6901]

I knowwww

[@van____]

I know right, I searched Anasazi because of chad and this is awful. Luckily he is home and safe now

[@waterunder3718]

Van 16 bro Anasazi is an amazing place what are u talking about???

[@daphnietudor2953]

He is okay and turned out just fine!!!

[@heyya7464]

Call me a helicopter dad, but I would never leave my underage son/daughter or my teenager under the care of bunch of strangers without my supervision. Once they’re 18 they could be independent as they want but I would still watch over them and be there for them whenever they need me. parenting never stops until you’re dead. "Toughening up" children could be left scarred for life . as a abuse victim I want to take extra measures to ensure my children are safe.

[@natisoli]

i agree, you’re an amazing father!

[@heyya7464]

@@natisoli thank you 🙏🏻

[@sunflowerlove8243]

I agree my parents “sheltered” me and now I know why this world is sick and I just feel so blessed like why did I get so lucky and the other kids didn’t. My hearts aches for those untold stories. But why would you send away your kid if you have the money like just take two weeks off of work and spend the time with your kid in the wilderness. Not send them away with strangers!

[@heyya7464]

@@sunflowerlove8243 this is very American or western problem, most parents nowadays believe letting your child being independent is the best way for them to develop their mind and learn skills through trial and error. But in the process of doing that,you sometimes forget your duty as a parent, no parent should settle on the notion of letting their child be by themselves unsupervised or parents detaching themselves from the child to let them be away under bunch of strangers watch for weeks on end. A child’s formative years are the most important years of their lives which would determine their futures, and those years should be spent under a parent’s supervision.

[@Ian-gx9mn]

Your daughter will end up in a porno with "18" in the title. That's all you're setting her up for.

[@86aidan31]

I went to wilderness and now I have ptsd from it years later. It’s more often than not, a bad or traumatic experience.

[@miawagner4616]

Ya I did too it’s horrible I went to second nature it was so bad they said it was going to “ fix “ me and it was all healthy but it wasn’t

[@86aidan31]

Mia Wagner I’ve heard about second nature, I went to SUWS

[@86aidan31]

The Media Lies Against Islam it won’t do anything, thanks for the idea though

[@Joe-lg8lb]

Did they hurt u ?

[@Lilylu_NYC]

I'm right there with you. I'm 40 years old and still have nightmares.

[@user-nl1hp8dq9f]

I was 13 when I went to one of those "wilderness camps" I was in a group of 9-14 year olds at Trails Carolina. I experienced some shit there that haunts me to this day at 19 years old. I am currently a student at Baylor University and have succeeded in spite of my trauma. There are some thing s those wilderness camps dont want people to know as they would get shut down, like many already have. At Trails, I was strip searched at thirteen told nothing about what was happening to me, and slept in a trash bag under a tarp in the woods of the rocky mountains. We got a cup of beans a day, pooed and peed in one big hole, walked for miles up mountains a day with backpacks the same weight as the nine/ten year olds. One girl would pass out every day due to hyperventilation due to panic attacks, AND EXHAUSTION. My face was covered in sores and bug bites and the counselors would not send pic updates of me to my parents due to this. On my fifteenth birthday I spent there two girls ran off into the woods, we realized we all had pin worms due to improper sanitization and one girl tried to cut her wrists with rocks. THESE ARE little girls bounced from program to program because the get trauma after trauma and so they have behavioral issues naturally, and their parents have some money and dont want to deal with them. I have nightmares every other night even at 19 due to what I saw there at 14/15. If you are a parent FUCKING think before you do shit like that. Yes, I misbehaved and I snuck alchohol once when i was 15, but did any of us deserve what we saw there? no.

[@geminiwonder867]

I saw your comment on reddit. You should write a book

[@sanglee5100]

I hope you make it a life mission to work with survivors & attorneys to sue the shit out of these people

[@talan3030]

similar thing happedn to me while i was at a wilderness therapy camp

[@talan3030]

i also was at trails of carolina

[@ashercatillo1655]

I'm year late but my boyfriend is currently at trails carolina and this is really scary to hear,,

[@ithascome612]

Wait wtf, those guys went to jail, right? This is horrible... that poor little boy :( and his mother too, that's so sad

[@alexeilindes7507]

Shan Sewb no.. most of the staff i believe moved on to othet prograns

[@fondren001]

Jail? I hope you mean Prison........

[@mel.1080]

naynay sploogle what's the difference between prison and jail? im not a native english speaker so im curious

[@starbug1898]

Maddie Martinez usually it's same thing. Jail is used as a more relaxed way of saying prison. There is a small difference if you really really think about it but if you switch those two words no one will tell the difference.

[@Mrgamer1638]

Sparkly Star is wrong, Jail is for people that havent yet reached a verdict on their trail or for much lesser crimes. Prison is a whole nother place for convicted criminals with serious crimes.

[@1234Squash]

I was sent to a "wilderness camp" for troubled teens in the early 1990's in New Mexico. I was 15 yrs old and smoked marijuana, but that's it. The 2nd day out in the mountains, my "therapy" started, and the counselors wanted me to tell them stories of sexual molestation from my parents. It never happened once, but every time I said that to them, they said I'm not leaving until I tell them the "truth". We'd hike 5-10 miles a day with 45 lb backpacks on in the summer heat, but I'm pretty strong willed and headed, so I basically was like, "bring it." After a month and a half, and having to bushwhack around an actual forest fire, I had enough. I told them a lie about my mother touching me. Then the next night they would want more stories. I said never happened. This went on and on, and I realized that unless I give them the stories they want to hear, I'm not getting out. Finally I start telling them more sexual stories about my parents, they make me say more lies, and more lies, and yet more lies. I could fill a book with the lies I spun out there, and after 100 days exact, they told me I had finished the program and was going home the next morning. But first on the last night, they made me recite every single lie that I had spun to them over the last 3 months to prove to them I was telling the truth. I thought I did well trying to remember all the BS, but the next morning, no one was there to pick me up to go home. It was just another test. Being so heartbroken, I angrily chopped at a piece of wood and slit the top of my finger off. I immediately was done and ran away into the forest to escape on my own. Survived 5 days alone in the cold nights and burning hot sunny days, but then a "tracker" caught me and brought me back. I straight up told them that if they don't send me home immediately, very bad things are going to happen to the counselors while they sleep. I left the next morning on Day 107.

[@timbeatty11]

Please call you senators and tell them to support the S.1351 - Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act.

[@HeyLady08]

Omg that is literally torture. Its so frustrating that they kept you there for so long!

[@nussknacker9827]

Absolutely horrifying 😢

[@patricialmt5272]

Hope you find your path in life and doing good. So sorry that happened to you.

[@cartergomez5390]

What is the place called?

[@junkyswag5076]

I knew a girl who went to one of these camps when I was younger and she died. She was dehydrated and they were somewhere in the wilderness and she passed out then they said she tumbled down a cliff. It was the strangest story and it happened in early 2000s I’m curious to look up more of the story online. The girl was from Boston, crazy shit.

[@junkyswag5076]

User 123 no it was outward bound wilderness in Utah. It was in 2006.

[@spiralrose]

Thank you for sharing her story. If you can post on your Facebook or any other social media that you have about her and how she died at this camp, it would be a good thing. Anything that makes parents think twice before sending their kids to one of these hell holes is a wonderful thing

[@PepeDeezNutz]

🧢

[@blane2472]

Seems kind of disrespectful to hear this mother's story and then IMMEDIATELY go 'not all places are like that!'.

[@spiralrose]

Notice how most of those types of commenters never name the place that they would recommend going, This mother put her child in his killer’s hands. There’s plenty of research out there and plenty of first-hand accounts of kids who were sent there or forced there and anybody can read them. There is no excuse for ignorance. These places need to be shut down. Parents should not have this kind of power over at their children

[@loralieisa]

@@spiralrose Any place that denies contact of parents with their children is immediately suspect.

[@stellarlove21]

This disgusts me. Give me the name of the person who killed your son with a walkie talkie and God knows what else. If justice wasn't served then it's time.

[@jackson.denzler.]

Kelly Lane what was the program?

[@whippyfunnyman]

I was Raiden i would go yeet on them

[@spiralrose]

Kelly, you would have to kill a whole lot of people including the kids parents. If not for them, he wouldn’t have been there in the first place.

[@LuckyLiem]

May god forgive them, but i won't

[@kianam4034]

Omg chad on 8 passengers is at the camp 😳

[@summershymanski6901]

Literally my first thought...

[@hmichael2211]

I thought this

[@miaorr8532]

Not that one

[@vishakasrinath269]

Yes that’s what I thought

[@ipissed]

There were several other videos of kids being abused, or even killed at the camps before Chad went in. Now I cant find them. One kid died of dehydration after being punished by not being allowed to have water. There is some conspiracy here with KZbin burying the stories.

[@mckinleykelley9995]

Let’s give doctor Phil a round of applause for sending children to this camp. What an amazing man!

[@mrpie1730]

These existed way before Dr Phil. (I'm not disagreeing, im just pointing it out.)

[@Kiara1369.]

@@mrpie1730 if it existed before Dr.Phil … then he obviously should’ve known the conditions…

[@mrpie1730]

@@Kiara1369. no shit

[@QuertyQw33n]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@Luis-ps6ek]

Wait „Dr“ Phil is sending people there?

[@ashleyclarken6231]

Literally 8 passengers sent their kid chad like they have issues the mother has issues she forcing religion on them and says when there 18 there not living with them and no friends and the kids looked so sad when they said they had no friends and no phones the entire summer

[@yasyya8038]

you know theres different Anasazi camps he went to one in Arizona

[@ashleyclarken6231]

@@yasyya8038 yeah and there all the same not safe camps at all

[@melizheng8906]

Yeah I know this really sad Ruby is abuse kids I wish there lawsuit she end up jail o hospital review medical treatment

[@ashleyclarken6231]

@User 123 I think a child should have a choice to choose a religion not be forced

[@nordscan9043]

@@ashleyclarken6231 Don't you have selfies to take?

[@erikadee8668]

I’m sad that the kid dies but I think the mom is trying to make herself sound better by saying that the kid wanted to go there. I don’t believe that for a second. She knew exactly what that place was about.

[@Madmaximilien23]

As someone who’s been to wilderness therapy, i personally did also want to go. It’s rare but yea it can happen !

[@5rcane]

@@Madmaximilien23 I agree. I feel like as she claimed, she was misrepresented on what it would be like. "Helping kids gain confidence" is a dogwhistle in the troubled kids industry for "breaking their spirits". She couldn't have known IMO.

[@victorlucaslindbloom2450]

I was told that I was going to “a fun camp with other boys and girls like you”. It was a lie to avoid an outburst. It was a lie. That is no way to approach any therapy to begin with such dishonesty.

[@loralieisa]

No, they misrepresented their program and the kid thought it would be a fun adventure. All these wilderness programs need to be shut dow. One major red flag is not being able to talk to a child freely on a cell phone.

[@victorlucaslindbloom2450]

It is so very sad. Survival camp IS misrepresented to the parents that sign the waiver and pay big bucks out of desperation, typically, most often. The part that there is no communication available from child to parent is concerning but that IS a part of the “therapeutic process”. I went through it and I can laugh about it to break from tears. There no cell phone options! Haha! Hence wilderness survival named appropriately. The guides do have radios. The guides I had were salt of the earth kind of people ,Evad and Tracy’. I think I’m lucky that they were well matched in chemistry and had a slightly rougher than a youth pastor kind of role to provide us. They were not abusive to us. It was important to walk and keep up with the pack. Someone had to carry the water pump and someone had to fasten a shovel to there pack to dig a latrine at every camp and to cover it. It would not be a “survival camp” if kids brought cell phones.

[@ms.williams6009]

Poor kid. Wow! No words for this.

[@cammz05]

I’m pretty sure poor, kid, wow, no, words, for, and this are words

[@spiralrose]

I have a word for this… It’s ABUSE.

[@M1985-]

Mom is stupid. Sending your minor child to a place where you are not allowed to talk to your kid. Unreal.

[@frid7434]

they probably promised her contact with her kid, but made up some stupid excuse

[@kerisaltchannel3817]

They probably misled her.

[@suttersutter4426]

Mom was probably abusive. Seems like either child has neurologicial issues (various tests) or mom was abusing child by problematizing/scapegoating him

[@mollscadman]

Why are we blaming the mother?? And with what evidence??

[@M1985-]

@@mollscadman Social worker here. Children are never “problem children” just like that for no reason. Usually it’s something within the family. The foundation in the context of raising them is DONE by the age of 5…..any problems that occur later on, were already created. If your teen steals, is depressed or whatever…be loving, kind, get therapy for both of y’all. What loving parent sends their child away? Do you have kids? It’s always the parents.

[@sicarii545]

when i was in wilderness i got food poisoning. after 12 hours of vomiting and diarrhea i got so dehydrated that my kidneys started to shut down. finally they rushed me to the ER and i was in the hospital for 5 days before being moved to the basecamp, then shipped right back out there. i was refused contact with my parents while i was sick. even after the doctor told me when i was brought in, i was 2 days away from death. they forced me to sign a shit ton of papers so I'm pretty sure i can't sue them. i relied that they could easily kill me and no-one would ever know. my parents were completely controlled by the therapist. they are monsters

[@sparkIejumprope]

Hi I’m late but that sounds so incredibly awful. I sincerely hope your safe now and that you are living a better life.

[@spiralrose]

I think you could still sue them. You were a minor correct? A minor can’t sign that kind of paper without a parent present, and if someone was forging your parents signature then that’s easy enough to prove

[@Sinx-Ce]

What happened after

[@SS-rm9ix]

Was it sagewalk in Oregon?

[@ryanjacobson2508]

You can still sue them. Criminal negligence doesn't go away just because of a liability waver.

[@moomoo3439]

I was sent to a placement at 13 because I needed help with my anxiety and depression because I was molested by my aunt friend but it was horrible a kid had to get killed for it to finally get shut down

[@SurrealKangaroo12]

This is the saddest thing I have ever heard.

[@mattjack3983]

It absolutely blows my mind that these places are still allowed to exist, and operate, with such little oversight that guarantees the safety, care, and humane treatment of the kids who are there. I was taken to one of these places 25 years ago, when I was 14 years old. It was in the Utah wilderness, and it was an absolute NIGHTMARE. I was there for 9 months before I was able to get away, and it was the most horrific experience of my life. Words just don't even do justice in describing what these places are like. What happens in these places is the very definition of TORTURE. Under any other circumstances..if a person did to a child what is done to the children in these camps..that person would be arrested and thrown in jail, amd spend literally decades, possibly even life, in prison. Its absolutely unbelievable that these places are still around..smh

[@eliw.1197]

9 months?!? That's crazy. I went for almost 3 months and it was a wild experience. At least now, people are calling it out.

[@RedLineShortFilms]

I went for 2 months and my friend unalived himself because he couldn't deal with the amount of torture we were enduring every single day. I haven't been the same since, this camp destroyed my life and the life of my friend. Why is this still legal?

[@loralieisa]

@@RedLineShortFilms Call your elected officials and speak to a lawyer willing to take the case pro bono.

[@callie9233]

I would never put my child in a wilderness retreat I’ll take them out on a hike or camping trip

[@justinmusic8749]

Actually I went to one and it’s very nice

[@justinmusic8749]

L0G1N GAM3R I WENT TO ANASAZI

[@justinmusic8749]

L0G1N GAM3R it’s a nice camp judgement free and they care

[@jrw2319]

weird how this video pops up when you look up 8 passengers...

[@julieannpmu]

this is powerful, I am so sorry for your loss, I cannot even imagine. my heart goes out to you

[@darcysmith6784]

julie ann Esti & MUA XXxx

[@sharronc610]

julie ann Esti & MUA The only thing that is giving me anger is your grammer.

[@julieannpmu]

you don't even make sense

[@kyleebabyyy2744]

julie ann Esti & MUA R.I.P.

[@emmayale5827]

julie ann Esti & MUA u r absolutely necessary

[@youreannoying]

. She’s sad she lost her child because she knows her actions led to his death. She sent her child with neurological issues to a wilderness camp. A simple google of wilderness camps shows there aren’t any good ones. Almost every kid says it’s horrible and abusive.

[@ItsAllLove4Real]

My heart goes out to his parents...That poor child died miserable and in pain, begging to come home...This is just HORRIBLE!!

[@patchthecat]

omg that poor SOUL!! I cannot even fathom what each day must be like for her except for an absolute living hell. She was completely scammed, but as a Mom I am sure she still feels guilt even though it is unwarranted of course. God love her. and her son... to know he was suffering and that he did try to get word to his mom ....omg this is just unthinkable. I am sitting here crying. I am so sorry for the loss of this dear precious child.

[@spiralrose]

No… As his mother it was her responsibility to research these places from neutral sources. If she didn’t do her due diligence, then her sons death is on her own hands. I feel bad for her because that’s a horrible pain to live with. The facts are facts though

[@spiralrose]

The hard part about being a parent is that the parent is still human and flawed, while trying to raise an innocent infant into a healthy and productive adult. Sadly, this woman’s flaws put her child in his killers hands . Whether she meant it to happen or not it wouldn’t have happened without her own say so. It is her fault

[@afonsocanento2582]

Cmon man the kid died

[@patchthecat]

@@spiralrose i think clearly, you DONT have any kids yet.

[@cindy4628]

@@spiralrose I agree with you, you literally sign over custody of your child to the program's handlers wouldn't you want to do at least 10 minutes of research??

[@franst3909]

For those who want to look more about this incident the woman's name is Lynn McAward. Her son, William Lee died in 2000 and the camp's name was Obsidian Trail (It has been shut down).

[@SS-rm9ix]

It was renamed “sagewalk” and that’s where I was. It was formally shut down after a boy died of “dehydration and hyperthermia” she said Oregon so I’m assuming that was her son and the same one we went to.

[@connorbryan1655]

The troubled teen industry has left me in a very bad mental state even now as an adult. A lot of trauma physically and mentally and a lot of physical abuse. I made it out of a lot of these places (been to every detention center in my state) I’ve seen a lot of good places but I’ve been to 3-5 places that were a literal nightmare as a young teen/young kid. I made it home some of us didn’t. I am lucky to be just as fucked in the head as I am. Some people were fucked a lot worse then me some never made it home.

[@victorlucaslindbloom2450]

I relate with you, brother. Thanks for your input. It’s impossible for me to not get emotional when I think about my own experiences going from institution to institution as an adolescent and how it carried out into my adult life. I don’t know the solution for this or to change the past. I am glad to have a platform that people can discuss this. I am compelled to do something about this and I think that writing about it is the only affective avenue, first for personal development, and secondly for a public awareness to whatever extent that it might be known. I never made it home but I found home on the streets. It ruined my life. I wonder if there’s a way to be in contact with you without me posting my personal contact information and if we can share stories with a progressive idea to publish. Or even at least to move beyond this long lasting suffering that is not obvious

[@Yankeesiheart]

This is why I don't approve of Dr. Phil sending "troubled teens" to Turnabout Ranch.

[@marieb.1372]

Good thing he doesn't need your approval. LOL.

[@alexeilindes7507]

Anonymous im glad u said it... someone fuckin should

[@GirlsDoPhilosophy]

Turnabout ranch isn’t comparable to this. They don’t discipline like this, they’re gentle and therapeutic.

[@alexeilindes7507]

soupylegs those two adjectives scare me.. "gentle" (we torture w feathers) and "therapeutic" (we have no science but lets call it a scientific name)

[@katiecreates2526]

Isn’t turnabout ranch helping kids through animal therapy (horses) ?

[@lalezzy__]

Wow reading all your comments just opened my eyes up to how common this is and this is crazy. I am sending all my condolences and I’m hoping you (and your loved ones) all a healthy healing journey 🖤❤️

[@smileypantscuppycake122]

Omg this poor mom I can't even imagine! 😭

[@ipKonfig]

Just, wow :( Why? This family going through this and what he went through? Just unspeakable... My prayers and heart to you

[@Lilylu_NYC]

I spent 2 years in "Private Placement" when i was 17 years old. The form of "therapy" was breaking you apart (tough love) to submit. bad behavior led to digging ditches until midnight and filling it up again. Physical and severe emotional abuse. Because it was private there wasn't government oversight and none of these people had any qualifications for anything. It was run by a family and passed down from father to son. These places exist and cause long term emotional damage. The suicide rate after "graduation" was high. Still there was no oversight.

[@TheYouthquaker]

Bill McKay and his father of High Frontier and Cramer Creek and Rancho Valmora.

[@spiralrose]

Thank you both for sharing the truth and sharing the name of the place and the people running it. I hope they get what’s coming to them, and I hope it hurts

[@reece2087]

The people responsible need to go to prison!

[@baileymoran8585]

I’m glad I was a teenager in the early 00s, when people started realizing how many of these programs are child abuse camps. I was in religious boarding school as a child/teenager, and of course, my parents didn’t believe me at first, but in 10th grade, they started to realize that the staff was lying about how they treat people. I was in catholic school. At the time people thought they don’t beat children, but my school did. My parents saw the abuse I got from other students. It went beyond bullying. They saw how many of my friends had visible issues with anxiety and depression as young teens, when they’d come to visit, and they heard similar stories from horrible schools. It’s not all of them, but the risk is so great that if it’s not absolutely necessary, don’t send your kids to any kind of boarding school.

[@lilywalker4606]

This is kinda different. Also I go to an international boarding school and it’s pretty lit, there’s no physical harm so it’s disturbing that there are schools like that!

[@spiralrose]

Lily, you should name your school so that if you’re lying and people have been there and been through systemic abuse because they were there they can share it.

[@ItsJustaMeNow]

I went to one of these camps and it was an ok experience, I understand why the teachers said I needed it. However some of these people have no business being around kids, you need patience and understanding to do this.

[@jinslips6413]

aww this is horrible! so sorry for your lose god will ever be in your favour and bless you and your family 💓

[@lindastonebraker2512]

My heart is breaking.

[@jK-vm6vt]

Sports lady! If a child lacks confidence don't send him to a military style hiking camp, have him join a sport, join all the sports and find your confidence there.

[@waterunder3718]

Jape H or therapist

[@miadeleon38]

I feel bad because now the mom feels guilty for his death for sending him there I hope the people who killed him get life to prison even after knowing of his brain injuries they still hit in in the head after saying they won't shame on them!

[@wcrdz6580]

She deserves to live with that guilt

[@PrincessZaire100]

wcrdz how. She was trying to help him get some confidence and those people LIED to her

[@bleedingtrash3560]

@@wcrdz6580 Bro, the kid begged her to go too, it was supposed to be a fun, therapeutic learning camp.

[@frid7434]

@@bleedingtrash3560 dont worry, hes a troll, he's just a person that needs therapy

[@jborrego2406]

It her damn fault

[@phillosophy5103]

I went to Provo Canyon Behavioural Hospital in Utah. They had the same exact owners as the one Paris Hilton went to. They did the same shit. Going to this place (hell) ruined my life. I can never unbreak the parts of my mind and will that they broke. Not only do I not know how, but I can't. I am permanently disabled. I can't work. I can't make or keep friends(or girlfriends). I can't even pay my own bills. I tried to go to collage. I flunked out with only 6 credit hour courses for the semester. Im just stuck. I cant can't get out of this hole im in. I need help. Im stuck in this miserable excuse of a life. I cant get disability cuz my state is backed up with a 2 year waiting list.

[@jo1913]

I'm sorry your feeling that way. Things will get better! Never lose your faith.

[@nicoleelizabeth1396]

I went here. I haven’t thought about it for years and years. Seeing this as an adult is wild. I wasn’t even a troubled kid, I was going through puberty. Terrible, awful, abusive place. They condition the parents before, telling them to expect your kids to write you claiming abuse and mistreatment, and not to believe them. That’s probably the worst part

[@moodiebabie8394]

So sad, i cant imagine this happening to me. I hope my mum will never do this to me.

[@euqhiora8662]

Ahem ahem 8 passengers ahem ahem

[@euqhiora8662]

@meatiest ITS ANOTHER bUsTeR HELLO

[@speedy44767]

@@euqhiora8662 E

[@skaybayrae5995]

I was taken to a doctor mid wilderness and I remember being able too see my body for the first time since I was taken in the middle of the night, and being so saddened by the scattered bruises on my body due to the two men that took me restrained me and grabbed held forced and threw my body like shaking a towel out on the beach.

[@bag_lady_]

that’s terrible

[@foreverchained9070]

Well in every wilderness program if she read the contract she signed it ALWAYS says you cant sue or take any legal action if your child dies (not in as blunt of terms but if you have 2 brains cells its obvious what they mean). I was sent to 2 of these "programs" and both of them were abusive as fuck and ive had one of my best friends die in another one. When i have children if i EVER read a contract saying anything about the possibility of the death of my child there is no fucking way they would be sent there. I was sent to several residential treatment centers and wilderness programs as a kid (one of which was shut down by the FBI 2 months after i left) and the one thing they all had in common? ABUSE. Physical, sexual, psychological, emotional you name it they do it. I dont understand how these places are open until i watch videos like this and remember its the parents who send their kids there without doing ANY fucking research on what these places are really like cause 2 clicks on google and she would have found thousands of grieving parents. I know this woman wasnt aware about what was going on but majority of parents are told by their kids in programs what is going on and the staff tell them they are just manipulating and to hangup the call anytime their child brings it up and somehow that doesnt raise any red flags? Im sorry for the rant but ive lost 7 friends within facilities and had 16 more kill themselves or OD after leaving those places and i was almost one of the numbers on that list. This shit needs to stop and parents need to stop supplying these places with kids to rape and beat the shit out of for fuck sake.

[@cicigig9]

Isadora Obsidian thank you so much for sharing this

[@nybsbfan18]

why did the video just cut off. hope they close this place down.

[@meredith9028]

unfortunately it still happens in other wilderness camps

[@ectosquid]

Like other commenters, I was sent to one of these camps for a year from 12-13. Very abusive, endless toiling labor. A year or two after I left, a kid was killed by being "restrained" by a councilor. I know what "restrained" means there. It means you are body slammed to the ground by a 250-300lb adult man who lays on top of you, holding your wrists, arms across your chest/abdomen for about an hour. This is used as a punishment for things like stealing food, lying, mouthing off, not doing your labor, and other unnecessary reasons. The camp was shut down after that death. Anyone else an OTP alum?

[@Onix.556]

What OTP did you go to and when? Cleveland, GA?

[@derpedfox]

The people running these torture camps deserve to rot in hell forever Countless children has died from camps like this, the one who's lucky enough to survive will get brainwashed, have PTSD and life scarring mental abuse running in their sleep. People should wake up and start realizing that unsanctioned teenager torture camps are bad

[@bushpilot223]

Was this SUWS Camp? I've heard absolute horror stories about that place. My uncle used to work there as a guidance counselor, and also to go track down runaways in the desert. he said that some kids would be drug into camp against their will thinking they had been kidnapped. Some parents would let them "take" their kids out of bed when they were sleeping and flown to Idaho and driven to the camp, all the while thinking they were being abducted. The SUWS camp has been shut down for several years, but a new wilderness therapy outfit has taken their place: Bluefire Wilderness. My uncle doesnt work out there anymore, so I don't know much about it. I clean their portapotties that they have in the desert, so I'm out there every few weeks. Some of the kids look ecstatic and happy as can be, while others have literally begged me to take them with me. One of my biggest oppositions to this wilderness camp (aside from the obvious possible abuse): it's done on public BLM land and they completely destroy the roads, they make new roads, and have completely raped the local landscape. It used to be prime, untouched wilderness, now it's full of walking trails, litter from the campers, the roads are all destroyed and some of them are even asphaulted for short lengths.... idk.... just seems weird to me that these camps can destroy BLM land when I myself, am not even allowed to go out there when the road is muddy because I'll make ruts on a public road. (Which is completely understandable but why are THEY allowed to do it?) /tangent

[@keenanjaeger6652]

I got out of a wilderness therapy SWUS of the Carolinas two years ago I have severe ptsd of staff hurting me I’m Native American and they treated me with a lot of disrespect and said many things about land and how happy they are getting payed off the kids who got sent there I was beaten by sticks I was kicked one day I had enough and severely injured the person who was hurting me and I got in huge trouble for it and no one believed me of what he did to me he has permanent head trauma from me bashing him multiple times with a rock while he was sleeping

[@Karaunicorn]

I'm so so sorry for the loss of your beautiful son. I pray for your healing in dealing with the tragedy and trauma which led to his death HORRENDOUS!!!

[@lee6228]

this is heart breaking

[@alexeilindes7507]

Im going to ask u to name those "good places" i have yet to find one that is regulated

[@alexeilindes7507]

ThatStrangeBugGirl ok so you must finish ur statement. It was really great aNd helpful FOR EVERYONE THERE* And i need u to prove to me that 100% of the students sent are better off then i need u to prove u didn't drink coolaid. Last but not least i need u to understand that if one student says there was abuse if obe student says it was wrong that u must reconsider.

[@alexeilindes7507]

ThatStrangeBugGirl good reply. I have a few questions though. Where all the staff fully licensed to treat someobe with extreme suicidal depression? And in this you mentioned that the program treated all different types of problems with a one shoe fits all program. Do u feel this is healthy and scientific? Was ypur environment treated? And lastly with suicidal depression or depression of any kind they have found correlation with swelling of body did u or anyone ever see a nutritionist?

[@alexeilindes7507]

ThatStrangeBugGirl also what buisness is it of theirs what you write to ur parents or what ur mail content consists of? What write do they have to censor or intervene?

[@alexeilindes7507]

ThatStrangeBugGirl u are really going to say that after countless cases of child abuse abd connections with almost every program to medicaid fraud?

[@alexeilindes7507]

ThatStrangeBugGirl im fully aware of new haven. Im very sorry u wejt thru that im just against the industry as a whole. I feel its a bitter turn when the teen is used as a scapegoat for either parental or environmental problems while in ur case u needed massive intervention i can't at any point recommend the parents are not present or in tge same exact treatment as the child

[@illicitveniceb]

I have so many friends who have gone to Winderness programs and they have told me crazy stories. We all went to a therapeutic boarding school. Both wilderness programs and boarding schools are messed up and abusive. These programs need to be shut down before more things like this happen. It’s so heartbreaking to hear this.

[@sicarii545]

we always talked about the chance of someone "freeing" us. i actually volunteered to do this but it was impossible to do. by "freeing" we mean someone killing themselves and therefore hopefully ending the program. when i got there i was planning to run into the 0 degrees wilderness, take off all my cloths and freeze myself to death. they found out and i was put on arms for weeks. (arms is where you have to be within arms reach of a staff at all time. like all the time. even when you go to the bathroom and when you seep)

[@gircakes]

This is horrifying. I can’t imagine how bad the torture must be if kids are willing to kill themselves in an attempt to free the other kids.

[@ollierieger946]

yea ive been to wilderness when i was 14 for smoking weed. It was torture. Im strong and got through, but saw many kids break. I saw kids get restrained and tackled for trying to run away bc they had no other options. months in the extremely hot or cold climate with no showers, sleeping under a tarp, cooking shitty food out of a fire on pots that we clean with dirt every day. We were forced to hike for miles every day, carrying packs that i wasnt even able to lift up to my shoulders.

[@thequintessential5503]

There are alternatives to take your kids places to help build confidence not camps where you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere in camp bases in 103 weather season

[@gng4987]

I’m so sorry. God bless you

[@zsedcftglkjh]

As a former Wilderness Camp counselor...none of the kids NEED to be there. It's always the parent's fault.

[@rosieasmrwhispererzephier7021]

This Story Breaks my Heart Lynn should Sue this Wilderness Camp and put the Wilderness Camp Staff in Jail

[@NinjaDildoShow]

Watching these videos makes me glad that my dad was too poor or cheap to send me away.

[@victorlucaslindbloom2450]

I extend my deepest sympathy to this mother. I went to SUWS in 1998. I learned to survive. Please contact me if you want to.

[@natalie9884]

This is absolutely horrific

[@earthwuurm]

im currently in treatment and its awful. its so bad and it has caused more problems with abandonment and depression

[@corajohnson390]

When I went to camp my friend was dehydrated and breathing heavily you could tell she was tired and she chugged hers and mine water bottle she had stomach problems and usually took medicine she was so sickly she threw up when she asked for anything such as an : ice pack, to go back to cabin, some water, or medicine even though they had it they would not give it to her

[@acepc2]

soooo messed up

[@lemongrass1982]

im too sad to be watching this...i hope everything goes well

[@boogaloo1114]

It even sounds like a consontration camp

[@caitb7089]

How would you ever live with yourself after this... Knowing you put your kid into a situation that got them killed... this poor woman

[@zephyr_koryami]

You know parents send their kids there on purpose. I’m an adoptee and both me and my brother were sent 3 of these almost every summer. Always being told your a delinquent and disparaging names, you’re sent to ‘juvie’. I feel so bad for all the ones that went through this with loving parents or ones that tried to instill structure in their children and had nurture and encouragement. To all the survivors of this, I hope you remember your strength is something to be recognized, perhaps teach others to be strong, especially other youth. It’s helped me a lot with my anger and bitterness of unfair and disgrace to leave what I can behind, teach those who are scared, broken, they can find their inner strength. Leave the world better than the way they found it.

[@jessikarrer2274]

My son gives me a great deal of trouble some days but I don't think I could ever send him to something like that

[@JediFight]

Very sad. Poor mother.

[@elijahbutler5392]

If this happened to my child, They would give me the death penalty when I got done there

[@mirandamason8009]

I went through one of these programs, they are harsh, they are terrible, they are abusive

[@jackson.denzler.]

Miranda Mason what program

[@justinmusic8749]

No they aren’t

[@marsgo8938]

@@justinmusic8749 What do you mean "no they aren't"?

[@justinmusic8749]

Mars Gravel well the one I went to wasn’t

[@TheeZombieDinosaurs]

oh my god to have your son die is awful enough, but for it to happen ON YOUR BIRTHDAY its just wow... so horrible.

[@hannahsteinberg1410]

i went to one of these called Outback Hiking and Therapeutic Expeditions. i was thirteen years old. i was strip searched, driven out into the middle of the desert, not knowing where i was going. i spent three months hiking with a 50lb pack on into the mountains for 1-4 miles each day. we had limited food and water. we had to poop and pee in a hole, try to make fire for an hour straight each day, and if no one was successful in making fire we couldn’t eat. it was traumatizing. i went from december 2020 to march 2021. i think about my experience daily and i’m trying to process it all. oh, and this horrible experience cost my parents $50,000. no insurance. the troubled teen industry just wants to profit off of mentally ill children. these places don’t help. i got worse after i came back. keep sharing, it needs to stop.

[@ajrwilde14]

Such unnecessary suffering. My heart goes out to you x

[@nicwade5850]

I was at trails Carolina and I’m still in pain from that place

[@ambersmith7708]

Oh my god this is so horrible I feel bad for that boy!

[@mohamedhani6668]

R.I.P❤️❤️

[@chelseamunroe]

A lot of these camps or centers for kids seem to have a lot of issues. For that reason I think there should be security cameras in every room so that adult are also held accountable.

[@LightYagami-xl1wz]

Wrong. All the camps should burn down into the soil beneath with the staff in it, just get the kids out first.

[@samivienneau4696]

They should have cameras everywhere in and outdoors EVERYWHERE except the bathrooms. people still need privacy to do their business and get dressed.

[@shannong.8094]

My heart broke when she started mentioning the bruises. What the actual fuck... This is beyond ridiculous. I don't have words.

[@HmmmYeahRiiiiiight]

If this woman had any other children, they should have been taken from her by child protective services.

[@Z03Y.760]

I was sent to trails Carolina in the beginning of February 2021. I was 13. There was little to no medical care. I have severe asthma, they didnt give me my inhale once, even during an asthma attack. I was unable to call my parents to tell them about it. when I tried to write them a letter telling them about it, they lit the letter in front of me. I got hit and beat by other girls to the point of unconsciousness. nothing was done. We had no access to any sort of hygienic products. Trails leaves kids with life time trauma, it needs to be shut down.

[@bubba-lc7os]

You need to contact the authorities there and let them know because a kid just died there.

[@Z03Y.760]

@@bubba-lc7os yeah just read the story. Honestly not super surprised. and as for the authorities, I’m working on a case

[@kyliegrace7353]

This situation really sucks, I recommend YMCA wilderness camps for people who are worried by this video, they go through thorough training and are usually safe I myself have had amazing experiences and friendships formed there, I just wish this kid could have had a great wilderness experience like me

[@notcorruptions6534]

How can a parent send their kids to these camps? Charge the parents and the camp employees

[@nelia039]

Shame on this lady. She punished her kid for absolutely nothing. What gave her the right to determine her “child’s confidence” ? Ridiculous

[@abigailmoore7352]

Oh my! the guilt she must feel!!

[@user-og5xe3fd4p]

That's horrible 😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@reneebrown1362]

🤔🤔I know a boy 14 year old anthony hayes who was sent to a wilderness camp program in the summer in Phoenix he was forced to run in sweat pants and sweat shirt it was a humid 🥵 98 degrees he wasn't allowed to rest or given any water 💦 or food after 20 minutes he became ill was vomiting and collapsed multiple times the last time he fell he didn't get up the leader put him in a shower hoping he would get better instead of taking him to a hospital for medical treatment he ordered the boy back to camp where his condition got worse that night a nurse saw him on the ground and called for paramedics he was taking to the hospital where he died an autopsy determined his body temperature was 104 degrees and died from a heatstroke truly a sad case😥😥

[@madisynvillalovos9658]

My friend was sent to a camp. She said they were forced to use the bathroom outside in the snow and only had a bonfire once every other day for heat. things need to change.

[@user-di8hm2jl2u]

Another kid was just killed at one of these camps.

[@tammysaffordablecleaning]

My state is about to send my friends kid to one of these!!! They say our programs won't do anything for her.....

[@zan890]

I still have ptsd from this place

[@redheadinga]

No contact! Crazy!

[@gageguidi1672]

I went to suws idaho wilderness academy I am now 28. I found the book this week they gave us. Any others out there?

[@christinanelson1985]

I like at the end where he said there are good residential treatment centers and i can def back that up. I was lucky and i was never sent to any of these abusive places but i was sent to a CR . It was a group home and it was a wonderful program . I was there for 4 years out of my life and there was no abuse. We were treated well. We went on rec outings where we did fun stuff like bowling or mini golf. That place and those people are like family to me and i even call them still for advice. I call them b4 my parents . so the whole entire industry isnt bad... there are some really great programs, we just need to weed out the abusive ones.

[@angiedl31]

I worked at 2 different wilderness. What happened to her son never should've happened. Where I worked it never would be even a thought. The programs I worked at would sit with the kid until they were ready to hike. No force and only kind mentorship. Kids like the program by the time they leave. It's more of a connection between staff and kids/adults. I met a kid that was at that program just yesterday and she only had good things to say.

[@michaelfannon4190]

These are HORRIBLE places. I have heard horror stories about these including someone I knew who went to one and won’t even speak of it due to the trauma and that’s a school I see has abuse allegations. I’m sure there are some good ones and some teens that really need to be removed from the home but they have to be in good places. I wonder if some educational consultants get kickbacks from these places for sending students there.

[@Sonia1474]

oh god the letter sounds like he went through horrible torment

[@bondeappetite703]

To send your kids to any camp is abhorrent