A former Carleton student and poverty activist died in hospital on March 9 as a result of his injuries from BASE jumping.
Bryan Turner, 32, graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in human rights and political science. He was active on campus, founding the group Students to End Extreme Poverty.
The group sucessfully passed a referendum in 2009 at Carleton to fund the Millenium Promise, which encourages sub-Saharan African villages to be self-sustainable.
Zahra Aldunia, a friend of Turner’s who worked with him in the group, said his passion to end poverty was his whole life.
“Everyone on earth has a purpose, and his purpose on this earth was to end extreme poverty,” Aldunia said. “That is what he felt, what he talked about, what he lived.”
Turner wrote a letter to his friends before he began BASE jumping, asking them not to give up his life’s work in case of his death.
“Don’t waste time being upset about my dying; be upset about the seven million kids that die every year and don’t even get a chance to live,” Turner wrote. “If you can, please use my death to advance sustainable development.”
After his death, Aldunia started a Change.org petition with the goal of increasing awareness on how to end poverty.
BASE jumping is the practice of parachuting from fixed points, usually cliffs or mountains. The extreme sport is unregulated in Idaho and jumpers do not need any certifications by law.
Turner, who had taken classes, jumped from the 486-foot (148 metres) Perinne Bridge in Idaho, but his parachute did not open. He hit a body of water below and was knocked unconscious. Bystanders pulled his body from the water but he later died in hospital, according to Lori Stewart, public information officer at the Twin Falls County Sheriffs office in Idaho.
Kamuran “Sonic” Bayrasli runs the pro shop—where jumpers rent and buy equipment—at The Ranch, a skydiving spot in Gardiner, N.Y. where Turner liked to jump. He said Turner jumped to have fun.
“You come to let loose and have fun, forget about the daily grind, the nine-to-five thing. He always seemed to be one of those guys that was having fun,” Bayrasli said.
He added Turner did everything right, but unfortunately that isn’t always enough.
“This is a sport where you can do everything right and sadly something can go wrong, and the margins of error are extremely small,” he said.
Fellow BASE jumpers are trying to replicate the incident to find out what went wrong, Bayrasli said, but so far have not found anything.
Stewart said Perinne Bridge is one of the only places in the area where BASE jumping is legal. She said there are a lot of BASE jumpers in the area and the number of deaths is low.
Carleton president Roseann Runte and Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (students and enrolment), released a joint statement on his death, noting the kindness of the work he did and offering their condolences.
“We had the privilege to meet with Bryan to discuss his many worthwhile projects. He was a very caring individual and committed to the work he did,” the statement read.
Aldunia said Turner was the type of person who made a lasting impression.
“Anyone he spoke to, he would change, and he would change for the better, and really making them think about what is important to this world and where a person’s priorities should be,” she said.
—with files from Chris O’Gorman
