British schoolboy dies in rafting accident on trip to Ecuador
A GRAMMAR school pupil has died after falling from an inflatable boat while white water rafting during an adventure trip in Ecuador.
Matthew Hitchman, 17, was on a month-long school trip across the An- des as part of a World Challenge expedition which included trekking and a community project.
Attempts to save him “proved impossible”, according to World Challenge, the company which organised the trip. A spokesman said it has launched an investigation and suspended white water rafting in all the countries in which it operates.
Philip Wayne, headmaster at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, paid tribute to Matthew as a “splendid young man” who was “destined to do well”.
The trip was due to end in the next week, in time for students to pick up their A-level exam results next Thursday, but the 11 other boys returned home early. Mr Wayne said: “Matthew will be sadly missed by all who knew him. He was a caring, friendly and wellliked student who was highly regarded by his teachers and fellow pupils.
“Matthew had the qualities of someone who, combined with his academic ability, was destined to do well. He had a love of world travel and was excited about the study of chemistry or chemical engineering in the future.”
Mr Wayne said that Matthew’s family were “devastated”, adding that the school community’s “hearts and thoughts” go out to them.
Students said that the headmaster wrote to every pupil in the school last Monday, the day after the incident.
The tragedy took place when the group of 12 boys were three weeks into their trip, which included a trek in the Northern Andes and community project to provide sustainable tourism income in a remote area of Ecuador.
The Royal Grammar School, a selective boys’ school, was established in the 16th century and boasts TS Eliot as a former teacher.
A spokesman for World Challenge said that Matthew died after falling from an inflatable white water raft last Sunday. He added: “Attempts by the rafting guide and other members of the team to rescue him proved impossible.
“A full independent review is already under way and while this is the case we have suspended white water rafting in all destinations.”
Matthews’s uncle, John Brazendale, said the death was a “great shock”. “The family don’t want to say anything at the moment, they’re too upset,” he added.
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said they were working with the Hitchman family and the authorities in South America to repatriate Matthew’s body.