Marquette Student Dies In Rome After Fall

[Tugg Speedman]

If you understand Italian, here is the La Repubblica story ...

http://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2013/06/11/news/precipita_nel_tevere_morto_studente_americano-60839731/?ref=search

Below is the NY Daily New version of the story.  

The Daily News link has several Facebook and twitter video/pictures of him taken in the hours before his death.  To me he looks like a kid having a good time in Italy, like anyone would.  Unfortunately I fear the pictures, combined with the facts below will leave many with the impression of an irresponsible student that was careless.  I hope my fears are misplaced.

A horrible story, my prayers go out to his family.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/u-s-student-dies-rome-falling-wall-article-1.1370210

June 12, 2013
New York Daily News

American student, 21, dies in Rome after fall from high wall, was pretending to be tightrope walker

Andrew Keith Carr, 21, of Milwaukee's Marquette University, died in Italy after he reportedly went on a pub crawl in Rome's Trastevere district Monday night.

An American student taking classes in Italy fell to his death after drunkenly pretending to be a tightrope walker on top of a 65-feet high wall, police said.

Andrew Keith Carr, 21, reportedly went on a pub crawl in the Trastevere district of Rome on Monday night.

But he lost his balance while walking on a ledge near the historic Ponte Sisto bridge and plunged onto the sidewalk by the River Tiber.

Carr, an Indiana native studying at Marquette University in Wisconsin, was enrolled at John Cabot University in the Italian capital as part of a study abroad program.

La Repubblica reports Carr was drinking with pals before ending up on the riverside wall at 2 a.m.

Goofing around, cops say he tumbled, breaking his cervical vertebrae and killing himself on impact.

Marquette University President Rev. Scott Pilarz paid tribute to Carr.

"His light only graced this campus for a short time, but his memory will live in his family, his friends and our Marquette community forever," he said in a statement.

[warriorchick]

The Daily News link has several Facebook and twitter video/pictures of him taken in the hours before his death.  To me he looks like a kid having a good time in Italy, like anyone would.  Unfortunately I fear the pictures, combined with the facts below will leave many with the impression of an irresponsible student that was careless.  I hope my fears are misplaced.

As horrible as it seems to say this, he was careless, on that night at least.  As a parent of college students, my heart is aching for his family.  It also spooks me that there but for the grace of God go I, or any number of my friends who did stupid stuff when we were drunk (or merely displaying the naivete of youth).  It is my hope that this serves as a cautionary tale for my own Marquette students.

[GGGG]

As horrible as it seems to say this, he was careless, on that night at least.  As a parent of a college student my heart is aching for his family.  It also spooks me that there but for the grace of God go I, or any number of my friends who did stupid stuff when we were drunk (or merely displaying the naivete of youth).  It is my hope that this serves as a cautionary tale for my own Marquette students.

Exactly.  I think we would be hard pressed to say that we didn't act irresponsibly at some point.

[Goose]

Horribly sad and really puts one at a loss for words. As a parent of two MU students we definitely will talk about the horrible news with our kids and hopefully they learn from this. No doubt all or most of us did crazy things in our college days and makes you want to protect your kids even more after this news.

[Sunbelt15]

So sad! Be Careful, Safe, and have a great summer fellow warriors and fans.

[JWags85]

Call me oversensative, but that article had a line that I thought was inappropriate...

"An American student taking classes in Italy fell to his death after drunkenly pretending to be a tightrope walker on top of a 65-feet high wall, police said."

How many times have you seen a story in which someone was killed doing something inadvisable while drinking in which it was called simply an accident?  Or say they died after a fall? Just the way they phrased it, plus calling out tightrope walking, if it was my friend or family member, I'd be kind of peeved.

Tragic story all around.

[Golden Avalanche]

There are degrees of irresponsibility.

On one end of the spectrum is drunken college hijinks. On the other end of the spectrum is fucking around on a 65 foot wall. Drunk, buzzed, or sober that's just being stupid.

[Hards Alumni]

Call me oversensative, but that article had a line that I thought was inappropriate...

"An American student taking classes in Italy fell to his death after drunkenly pretending to be a tightrope walker on top of a 65-feet high wall, police said."

How many times have you seen a story in which someone was killed doing something inadvisable while drinking in which it was called simply an accident?  Or say they died after a fall? Just the way they phrased it, plus calling out tightrope walking, if it was my friend or family member, I'd be kind of peeved.

Tragic story all around.

It is a translation of Italian.  Keep that in mind.

[MUfan12]

Drunk, buzzed, or sober that's just being stupid.

This.

Or maybe the UW-La Crosse serial killer pushed him in?

[Coleman]

also spooks me that there but for the grace of God go I, or any number of my friends who did stupid stuff when we were drunk (or merely displaying the naivete of youth).

sad and a tragedy.

[mu-rara]

Let's wait until after the funeral to comment on the stupidity.  OK?

[Windyplayer]

Call me oversensative, but that article had a line that I thought was inappropriate...

"An American student taking classes in Italy fell to his death after drunkenly pretending to be a tightrope walker on top of a 65-feet high wall, police said."

How many times have you seen a story in which someone was killed doing something inadvisable while drinking in which it was called simply an accident?  Or say they died after a fall? Just the way they phrased it, plus calling out tightrope walking, if it was my friend or family member, I'd be kind of peeved.

Tragic story all around.

I agree. There was certainly a tone of "he deserved it" with that description. This story reminds me of some late nights on the roof of Pabst Mansion. So dumb. I'll leave it at that.  

[jeffreyweee]

Good lord, look at the lack of sensitivity shown by people when their is the anonymity of a message board. Can you give this kid and family a break for a while before you call their son stupid and immature? They'll never see their kid again and you're going to spend a couple minutes making sure people get to read that you think he's stupid.

Unfortunate story and I hope the family copes in the correct manner.

[Pakuni]

Good lord, look at the lack of sensitivity shown by people when their is the anonymity of a message board. Can you give this kid and family a break for a while before you call their son stupid and immature? They'll never see their kid again and you're going to spend a couple minutes making sure people get to read that you think he's stupid.

Unfortunate story and I hope the family copes in the correct manner.

I'm all for respecting the dead and others' grieving, etc., but I doubt very much that this young man's family are scanning MU Scoop this morning to find out what Marquette basketball fans think of this death.
But if they are, no doubt they'll appreciate your concern troll.

[🏀]

Good lord, look at the lack of sensitivity shown by people when their is the anonymity of a message board. Can you give this kid and family a break for a while before you call their son stupid and immature? They'll never see their kid again and you're going to spend a couple minutes making sure people get to read that you think he's stupid.

Unfortunate story and I hope the family copes in the correct manner.

[Benny B]

Good lord, look at the lack of sensitivity shown by people when their is the anonymity of a message board. Can you give this kid and family a break for a while before you call their son stupid and immature? They'll never see their kid again and you're going to spend a couple minutes making sure people get to read that you think he's stupid.

Unfortunate story and I hope the family copes in the correct manner.

I don't think anyone here is singling out this kid for being stupid.  If anything, the comments are a testament that most, if not all, of us have been stupid, drunken college students at some point... heck, I'll be amongst to first to admit that I've done stupider stuff than walk along a 65' wall.  But unless you're an atheist, I wouldn't go looking for disrespect in our merely reflecting on how fortunate some of us were.

[bradley center bat]

Maybe if people get called out on stupid crap, these sad topics will stop.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

We've all done stupid stuff and gotten lucky.

I feel terrible for his family.

[keefe]

I have lived with death daily for too many years. This one is completely senseless.

[warriorchick]

I don't think anyone here is singling out this kid for being stupid.  If anything, the comments are a testament that most, if not all, of us have been stupid, drunken college students at some point... heck, I'll be amongst to first to admit that I've done stupider stuff than walk along a 65' wall.  But unless you're an atheist, I wouldn't go looking for disrespect in our merely reflecting on how fortunate some of us were.

+1

[GooooMarquette]

Very sad.  My heart goes out to this young man's family.

[tower912]

Best wishes and prayers to this family.  There but for the grace of God....

[Les Nessman]

Superbar

[Blue Horseshoe]

Really regretted that last meal

[Benny B]

Really regretted that last meal

This reminds me of what I think was an In Living Color sketch about a company who would "clean up" anything that would serve to tarnish your memory in the event of an untimely death.  All I remember was the image of a professional-looking guy who passed on and the company guys hauling boxes of porn, sex toys, and a goat out of his apartment minutes after he died.

This should serve as a lesson to everyone - especially kids - about not only the "it could happen to you" aspect but also "how do you want to be remembered" in the age of social media and 5-second soundbites.