Ella Mills arrived in New York City at the beginning of September as a student in Columbia University's dual BA program with Trinity College. Weeks later, the college junior from Ireland died during a trip with Columbia's whitewater kayaking club, WTOP reports. The club traveled to Washington, DC, to kayak on the Potomac River, and in the Little Falls rapid, four members of the group capsized, including Mills, NPR reports. A piece of her gear got stuck between rocks that are typically deeply submerged, but which are among the many underwater hazards that have been exposed recently due to water levels lower than they've been seen in decades. She was stuck face-down and fatally drowned despite rescue attempts.
"We got to her within seconds. But her head was submerged under water," says a local kayaker who saw what happened and ran to help. "It was a futile effort. She was really stuck." A Montgomery County Fire and Rescue worker tells NBC Washington, "It's very deceiving. In some areas it looks calm, but it's not. If you're brought even a foot or two under water, it's like having 500 pounds of pressure against you." Mills is survived by her parents, brother, and sister. (More Potomac River stories.)
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