2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15
A Fordham University student died Sunday after accidentally falling from the bell tower overlooking the Bronx, New York campus.
University administrators explained that Sydney Paige Monfries, 22, was trying to take photos of the city skyline from the highest point of the tower known as Keating Clock. Apparently, according to the local press, for some reason she lost her balance and collapsed almost 40 feet inside the structure, which she had entered without authorization.
Monfries was found unconscious by emergency personnel inside the tower at approximately 3:17 am local time, with a blow to the head and still a pulse, the New York Post reported. She was transferred to the nearby St. Barnabas hospital, where she died within hours.
According to The New York Times, the young woman recorded her ascent to the tower on social networks with a video titled: "Bell Tower". Other videos show Monfries' friends climbing up the tower in the dark and using flashlights on their mobile phones to see where they stepped.
The Keating Clock Tower was a Gothic structure built 83 years ago, according to the New York Post.
Although unsupervised entry to the tower is prohibited, scaling the structure when unguarded has become a dangerous challenge that many curious students risk days leading up to graduation, according to the school newspaper, The Fordham Ram.
"The thrill of danger is definitely a big draw to climb," said a student outside the building, which the newspaper says is generally blocked. "I would say the other two reasons for going up are the incredible view of the entire campus from above and the ability to brag about doing it."
Born in Portland, Oregon, Sydney Monfries studied journalism and was expected to earn her bachelor's degree in May. At 22, the young woman already had media experience as an intern at InStyle magazine in the photography department, following the example of her uncle Greg Monfries, who was creative director for Essense magazine and design director for the People magazine.
Fordham officials have said the school will honor her with her bachelor's degree posthumously.
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