Mom: Cadet who died at camp
wasn't a sick child
August 14, 2006
Associated Press
MIAMI
- A 13-year-old cadet who died at a private military
academy was a history buff who should have started ninth grade at a
new school Monday, according to his mother.
Alex Cullinane was to attend Back to
Basics Christian Military Academy, Dena Cullinane, of Plantation,
told The Miami Herald. He died Saturday while attending the school's
four day Training and Leadership Corps campout at Oleta River State
Park in North Miami.
"He wasn't in top shape, but he
wasn't a sick child," Dena Cullinane told the newspaper. "He just
wasn't into sports."
Alex got out of bed in the middle of
the night to tell a drill sergeant he did not feel well, and
collapsed on the way to the bathroom, according to North Miami Beach
police. Other details regarding the investigation have not been
released.
The Lauderhill academy subcontracts
with Fort Lauderdale-based Juvenile Military Training and Leadership
Corp. The camp is run by certified National Guard drill sergeants,
principal Lynda Browne told the newspaper.
"It's not a boot camp. We're
Christians," she said.
Messages left at the school Monday
morning by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.
Dena Cullinane said she worried about
the second-year school's military image, but she felt her son would
receive a good education there.
"I trust them, and I'm not into
blame," she said. "Blame is not gonna bring Alex back."
Victor Jusino of Sunrise said his
sons, ages 9 and 10, told him Alex continuously threw away food
after the 33 cadets arrived at the camp early Wednesday.
"They described to me that he wasn't
eating. He wasn't feeling well. His stomach was hurting him and the
heat was getting to him," Jusino said.
An autopsy was planned to determine
the exact cause of death.
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