Gina Score did have problems. She
stole fingernails worth $2.99, beanie babies, $60 from a friend,
candles from a church. She outwardly did not seem troubled. She
babysat for neighbors, wrote cute poems, and seemed happy. She
weighed 224 pounds and girls in eighth grade made fun of her,
she confided to social workers.
Her parents tried everything to
change her behavior - years of programs and punishments intended
to change her behavior: community service, individual and family
counseling, group care, house arrest, fines, restitution,
probation, juvenile detention - and nothing really worked. She
violated parole and the judge put her into a military-style boot
camp for teen girls - the State Training School in Plankinton.
Kids were forced to rise before dawn, perform rigorous
exercises, and march like soldiers.
Five days after Gina arrived
she and 15 other girls began their 2.6 mile jog. Gina was severely overweight and "hated to
run," as her mother later recalled. The temperature and humidity
were high that day. Within a block or two, Gina started lagging behind.
She was shouted at by counselors to keep up. About an hour
later, Gina collapsed 500 feet from the finish line. The other
girls wanted to help her but a supervisor shouted at her "Quit
faking! You're embarrassing us." When the other girls tried to
give her shade they were ordered to back away.
A nurse claimed she as fine,
only hyperventilating. An hour later she collapsed again, just
within sight of her air-conditioned cabin. Her eyes were
dilated, her skin was pale, her lips were purple. She urinated
on herself and was frothing at the mouth. Her eyes rolled back
in her head - and yet the staff still thought she was faking.
Girls recounted staff laughed and made jokes as Gina lay on the
ground. The camp director was called to assess the situation and
concluded they should wait it out, so no one called an
ambulance.
All the girls were crying as
their friend laid there pale blue, not even brushing off the
flies that were landing on her body.
Three hours after she collapsed
two physicians happened by - they ordered an ambulance, six
minutes later they arrived. Paramedics gave Gina oxygen but her
heart stopped on the way to the hospital. They sent chilled IV
units through her body and packed her in ice but a rectal
thermometer peaked at 108°, the highest it could go. She had
begun to cook internally. Her organs shut down, and repeated
attempts to restart her heart were futile. She was declared dead
a couple hours later. The emergency room physician said it was, "the worst case
of heatstroke I've ever seen."
Click
here to read the
full story, "Camp Fear".
