Tributes to ‘brave’ Camp Mystic counselor, 18, who died saving children in Texas flood
A young counselor who helped build the Camp Mystic community was among more than two dozen at the camp who died in the Texas floodwaters.
Chloe Childress, 18, had just graduated from The Kinkaid School in Houston and was working at the camp when the Guadalupe River flooding swept her and others away before daybreak on Friday.
Childress was stationed at Bubble Inn Cabin, which housed the youngest girls, aged eight to 10, at the century-old Christian camp.
Bubble Inn and Twins cabins were less than 500 feet from the river and close to a creek that overflowed simultaneously. The two bodies of water made it it especially difficult for the girls to escape.
The bodies of Childress and nine other girls were found on Monday morning.
‘Whether it was sharing her own challenges to ease someone’s burden or quietly cheering a teammate or classmate through a tough day, Chloe made space for others to feel safe, valued, and brave,’ wrote The Kinkaid School head Jonathan Eades in a letter to the community.
‘She understood what it meant to be part of a community, and more than that, she helped build one.’
Eades added that Childress ‘was wise beyond her years, with a steady compassion that settled a room’.
Childress began working at the camp in June shortly after graduating high school, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was set to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall, before her life was tragically cut short.
The body of Camp Mystic director Richard ‘Dick’ Eastland, 70, was also recovered with the bodies of three girls he had attempted to save. Eastland was trying to rescue girls from the Bubble Inn cabin, which was 15 feet above the normal water level, The Washington Post reported.
As of Monday afternoon, the bodies of Katherine Ferruzzo, a 68-year-old counselor, and 10 campers were still missing. A total of 27 campers and counselors vanished during the worst flash floods the US has seen in decades.
At least 90 people have been killed across the Hill Country as storms continue to batter the region.
‘Texas is grieving right now. The pain, the shock of what has transpired these last few days has broken the heart of our state,’ said Senator Ted Cruz.
The Camp Mystic deaths, he added, are ‘every parent’s nightmare’.
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