A South Carolina university student who died while attending a fraternity event was drinking alcohol when she told her boyfriend she didn’t feel well, collapsed and died.
A Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report says Caroline Smith, a 20-year-old Furman University sophomore from Atlanta, was found by emergency workers early Saturday laying on the ground at a warehouse that hosts events. Deputies were told by her boyfriend that he was talking to her in the back room of the warehouse when she said she didn’t feel well, according to an incident report. She then “fell to the ground” and was unresponsive.
“I need an EMT. I think this girl is dying. She just fell and hit her head,” a caller told 911 dispatchers in audio obtained by WSAV.
Dispatcher: Is she breathing?
Caller: I don’t think so, her chest isn’t moving.
Her boyfriend performed CPR until medical workers arrived. They continued CPR for several minutes until Smith was pronounced dead.
Her brother, Furman junior Ryan Smith, was present and told deputies his sister didn’t have any medical issues that he was aware of, the report said. Both Smith and her boyfriend said the group was drinking alcohol but not using drugs or narcotics.
An autopsy was performed by the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston Monday but “the cause of death and manner of death is pending per further analysis,” Beaufort County Deputy Coroner David Ott told the Island Packet.
Official results could take weeks, but an obituary for Smith reads that her life was “prematurely cut short by an accidental fall.”
Furman spokesman Vince Moore says the formal event, which had been scheduled for Saturday night by the Kappa Alpha fraternity, had been approved by the university. Once Smith died, the formal was canceled and students returned to the Greenville campus.
“She was well-known on campus and liked,” Moore said. “The campus is affected by the loss. It is grieving and we are trying to begin the healing process.”
The Friday night event “was not an official part of the formal,” Moore said.
No charges have been filed.
“The sheriff’s office is investigating circumstances surrounding her death and whether alcohol was obtained by underage persons,” Maj. Bob Bromage said Monday.
The national organization is coordinating and cooperating with the university and authorities, said Jesse Lyons, director for advancement of the national office of Kappa Alpha. He said the fraternity also is coordinating with the university to provide counseling resources for members and to support memorials for Smith.
The State reports Smith was a history and communication studies major and a VP membership officer for the university’s chapter of the Kappa Delta Sorority.
“She regularly ran half marathons, played soccer throughout high school and loved all outdoor activities. Caroline loved her Atlanta Braves and developed a deep appreciation for football, painting, concerts and the arts. She had a deep appreciation of sports and had planned a career as a sports broadcaster,” the girl’s obituary reads. “Caroline will be missed to an impossible level that cannot be accepted or understood by her friends and family. She will be massively missed as she takes her new role in the hand of God. Her smile is indelibly left on the hearts of all those people who knew her. We will miss her fun sense of humor, her bright smile and kind words of encouragement to everyone.”