For three Fairfield University students studying in Florence, a spring break trip to Barcelona, Spain last week resulted in a tragic accident, leaving Sean Reilly ’05 hospitalized in a coma in critical condition.
“Myself and another girl went to Barcelona with Sean last Friday [March 19],” said Keli Bannister ’05.
The next day, Reilly, a native of Summit, N.J. left the group to visit a friend.
“Saturday night Sean went out with a friend from home who is studying in Barcelona to watch the basketball games,” Bannister said. “When he didn’t come back Sunday morning, we didn’t worry because we assumed he was still with his friend.”
However, after Reilly did not show up either Sunday night or the next morning, Bannister began to worry.
“He was supposed to catch a flight to London on Monday morning to visit another friend, so when he didn’t come back then we knew something was wrong,” she said.
After her friend left, Bannister tried to track Reilly down.
“I started calling his parents and looking in hospitals and police stations and finally filed a missing person’s report with the U.S. embassy in Barcelona,” she said. “This was all the biggest process because none of the important people over there could speak English and I had to explain it in French to get any meaning across.”
On Tuesday morning, she received word that a “20-something male” was found in a hospital. It was Reilly.
“Apparently he fell off a bridge Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and no one was with him,” Bannister said.
The fall caused massive head trauma, leaving Reilly in a coma. Bannister then had to call his parents to inform them of the situation. Immediately, they flew to Barcelona to join their son.
“I’ve been in daily contact with Mr. Reilly since the incident to get updates on Sean’s condition,” said Susan Fitzgerald, the director of the office of international education.
“Since the accident, his father says there has been no change in his condition,” she said.
However, Fitzgerald has confirmed that Reilly underwent emergency brain surgery but reports that his condition is now stable.
“The doctors have told the parents just to be patient and see what happens,” she said. “His father is very pleased with the level of medical care he is receiving in Spain.”
Fairfield University held a mass for Reilly on Monday night and there was a large show of support by students.
“We collected signatures and got more than 200 students to sign their names,” Fitzgerald said. “I sent it away on Tuesday by overnight mail to his parents.”
The university is trying its best to help students abroad who may be struggling with the accident and will be offering counseling.
“We have a Dr. Bellini who will be holding a group session for all students in Florence on April 1 at 3 p.m.,” said Fitzgerald. “Afterward, we will offer individual sessions for students who wish to talk about it further.”
Fitzgerald has never experienced such an event while director of the program.
“We’ve had some minor problems but never anything to this extent,” she said. “All I can say to his father is that Fairfield is with him and that our prayers are with them all.”
Leave a Reply