A beloved college student has died while sleeping on a hammock. Sadly, the tree he was napping under ended up falling on him and crushing him. The tragic incident happened at a Catholic retreat.
22-year-old college student Malachi Crain was sleeping in a hammock. He had gone on a retreat with his friends and was camping in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia. While sleeping in a hammock, the tree feel on top of him last Saturday morning. Sadly, there was nothing that anyone could do.
At the time, Crain's three friends slept in nearby hammocks. One other camper suffered a minor injury as a result of the tree falling. Sadly, Crain was only a few weeks away from graduating from the University of Alabama. The impact of the tree falling caused significant injuries.
Officials said, "The campsite was located approximately 4.2 miles from the nearest trailhead, requiring SAR teams to hike over 8.4 miles round-trip through difficult terrain, much of it in the dark."
College Student Killed By Tree
Following the death of the college student, Bama Catholic released a statement mourning his loss.
"Malachi was a Senior at the University of Alabama and a beloved member of the Bama Catholic Community. While pursuing a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science, he also served in many roles at Bama Catholic," the statement said. "He will be dearly missed by many... This news is shocking and difficult."
Meanwhile, Father Tom Ackerman of St Francis of Assisi University Parish mourned the loss of the college student. He said that Crain was a light in the world.
"He helped arrange for different ministers, trained them and stuff like that. It was obvious he loved God, loved his fellow students and great love in his family as well," he said. "What I tell people is the fullness of somebody's life is not measured by the length of years but the love they lived their life with. By that measure, Malachi lived a full life."
Meanwhile, his obituary remembered him as loving and intelligent.
It said, "Malachi was super smart and his sisters considered him the most intellectual of the three Crain kids... Malachi loved his family deeply...he was the best son and brother a family could ask for."
