North student Rachel Ward falls to death in French river

Jan 15 2009 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A NORTH East student sent a text message reading ‘I’m lost’ seconds before plunging to her death in an Alpine river.

Rachel Ward, a 20-year-old undergraduate from Durham University, was on her way to her apartment from a party in the upmarket French ski resort of Val d’Isere when the tragedy happened early on Tuesday morning.

She had been taking part in On The Piste – annual celebrations of drinks parties and skiing involving hundreds of British university students.

Rachel, who was in the second year of a natural sciences degree at Durham, froze to death after apparently slipping on ice and falling into the icy Isere River, local media reported.

Rachel was the second Durham University student to die in tragic circumstances within three days.

On Saturday climber James Atkinson, 21, and his friend Rob Gauntlett, also 21, plunged to their deaths in the Chamonix region of France on a route on the east face of Mont Blanc.

Rachel went out with friends on Monday night but set out to return to her apartment alone, the Dauphine Libere newspaper reported.

At about 1.15am on Tuesday, she sent a text message to a friend, saying she was lost.

One theory is that she decided to cross the river to take a short cut but fell in and could not get out.

Overnight temperatures have dropped as low as -10C at night and Miss Ward is thought to have died of hypothermia.

A man on his way to work found her body.

Miss Ward was on a student-organised ski and snowboarding holiday with travel operator On the Piste.

A member of Durham’s Collingwood College, she played for the university’s hockey team and was also its treasurer.

Professor Ed Corrigan, principal of Collingwood College, said: “Everyone in Collingwood is shocked by Rachel’s tragic death.

“She was a bright, popular student, who was academically talented and enjoyed participating in sport and other college activities.

“She will be missed by all of us. We extend our deeply felt sympathy to her family and to her many friends.

“Students who have been affected by this incident are being offered support and access to professional counselling through our college and university student support services.”

Phil Mutlow, club captain of Durham University Hockey Club, said: “Rachel was an active member of our hockey club as club treasurer and regular player in the Women’s 3rd team.

“Rachel was a really organised and efficient member of the executive. She was always there to help everyone in the club, whether it be for financial advice or just for a friendly chat.

“Rachel was one of the best – she always had a smile on her face and was lovely to be around.

“The club is absolutely devastated that someone so young and with so much talent and enthusiasm for life could be taken in such a horrific way.

“We cannot put into words how much we are going to miss her. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.”

Rachel, from Halifax, West Yorkshire was the daughter of Edna, who works for Halifax solicitor Wilkinson Woodward and father Colin, a property developer.