Parents Of Boy Who Drowned On Sag Harbor School Trip Sue District, Rafting Company

SAG HARBOR, NY – The parents of a 12-year -old student from Sag Harbor who died in a rafting accident while on a class trip in May have filed a lawsuit against the school district, superintendent, and whitewater rafting company, according to court documents.

Cesar Albarracin Guncay died while on a class trip to the Poconos on May 27, officials said.

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The plaintiff's summons and verified complaint was filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Suffolk, on November 2 by Robinson Yablon Cooper & Bonfante, LLP, attorneys for the the plaintiffs.

The suit was filed by plaintiffs including Jorge Ramiro Buestan Sanguirma, plaintiffs designate co-administrator and co-fiduciary of the estate of C.A.A.G., the deceased minor; Cesar Hernan Albarracin Guncay, co-administrator, co-fiduciary of the estate of C.A.A.G., and father and natural guardian of C.A.A.G, a deceased minor; Delia Leonor Guncay Morales, mother and natural guardian of C.A.A.G; Cesar Hernan Albarracin Guncay, individually; and Delia Leonor Guncay Morales, individually.

The plaintiffs filed the suit against the Sag Harbor Union Free School District, Sag Harbor Union Free School District Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols, Hampton Jitney, Inc., and Whitewater Rafting Adventures, LLC, court documents said.

Sag Harbor Union Free School District Superintendent Jeff Nichols confirmed the tragedy in May.

"It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of the passing of our beloved sixth grade student, Cesar Albarracin Guncay, following a rafting accident that occurred during the annual class trip to the Poconos," Nichols wrote in a statement.

The coroner's office said the 12-year-old child was pronounced dead at the scene; the group was rafting Wednesday at about 5 p.m. when the raft flipped over, the outlet reported.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission investigated the fatal recreational boating incident, which took place on the Lehigh River in East Penn Township in Carbon County, said Mike Parker, communications director for the PFBC.

At about 5:30 p.m. on May 27, a party of five boaters was traveling the river in an inflatable raft that was part of a larger group excursion with a guide, a statement from the PFBC said.

The raft capsized, resulting in all occupants being ejected from the raft into the river, including Cesar, who did not immediately resurface, officials said.

Search and rescue operations were conducted and the boy was later recovered and confirmed deceased, the PFBC said.

All other occupants of the raft were recovered safely, the PFBC said.

Parker said he could confirm that life jackets were worn by all occupants of the raft.

The Carbon County Coroner's Office said the death was an accidental drowning, according to NBC News.

In a statement, the company that organized the event, Whitewater Rafting Adventures, confirmed "the tragic loss of a participant on a raft trip Wednesday, May 27."

Company owners Hilary and Steve Bretzik said: "Our entire team is heartbroken by what occurred, and our first concern is for the family and friends of our guest."

The Bretziks said, at the time, that their team was still gathering information about the incident, and that they were cooperating fully with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which led the investigation, along with support from the Pennsylvania State Police.

The lawsuit said that "close to 80" sixth-grade students who attended defendant Superintendent Nichols' Pierson School on an overnight class trip.

Upon learning of the suit, Nichols issued a statement, according to News12.com: "In accordance with district policy, and on the advice of counsel, the district does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation."

He added that "the loss of Cesar remains a profound tragedy for our entire school community. Cesar was a valued and cherished member of our school family, and his passing left an immeasurable void in the lives of his classmates, teachers, staff, and all who knew him," according to the statement.

Hampton Jitney and Whitewater Rafting Adventures LLC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The suit alleges that the district "negligently, carelessly, and recklessly elected to provide its students with a one-to-ten ratio of district school teachers to supervise while its students were on the whitewater rafting trip down the Lehigh River in Pennsylvania."

The suit also alleges that the district and Whitewater Rafting Adventures allowed the students to proceed with the rafting trip "despite the guides traveling separately in kayaks, and not inside rafts with the students."

In addition, the suit states, teachers did not trek the course in advance to determine obstacles, "including a dangerous downed and fallen tree causing dangerous currents created by a tree strainer before its students were permitted to go inside the rafts and sent whitewater rafting."

The suit accuses the district, superintendent, and rafting company of being "negligent and careless in failing to investigate, discover, or learn that there had been two prior scheduled dam releases discharging extra water to create faster-flowing rapids and boost river depths, increasing the difficulty of the course only days before its students were permitted to go inside rafts and sent whitewater rafting."

On May 27, the suit states, Cesar, the deceased minor, "while on defendant Sag Harbor, its employees, agents, representatives, officials, and servants' whitewater rafting trip, was inside one of several rafts which capsized and overturned from the tree strainer, throwing him into the cold, swirling, rapid waters of the Lehigh River with its dangerous currents caused by the tree strainer which pulled, suctioned, and vacuumed" his "head and body under the water."

Cesar, the suit said, was pinned beneath the tree's branches, "trapping him, preventing him from resurfacing, and causing him to suffer extreme and unimaginable conscious pain and suffering for several minutes, fear of impending death, pre-death terror, asphyxiation, choking, torment, torture, agony, disfigurement, hemorrhaging, and wrongful death by way of drowning."

The suit states that "Superintendent Nichols, his employees, agents, representatives, officials, and servants, negligently, carelessly, and recklessly had no professional and certified rafting guides supervising his minor students inside rafts when no less than four separate rafts occupied by multiple students and district schoolteachers, capsized and overturned from the presence of the tree strainer in the water including in the raft occupied by" Cesar.

Also, the suit accuses, the Sag Harbor School District, failed to ascertain whether its sixth-grade students who went on this class trip had previously ever been whitewater rafting.

The Sag Harbor School District also, the suit maintains, "promised and assured the families of its sixth-grade students who went on this whitewater rafting trip that each raft would have a professional and certified rafting guide in every boat with the minor children, who were all between eleven and twelve years of age."

The suit also names Hampton Jitney and said the company "contracted with, hired, retained and employed defendant Whitewater Rafting."

And the suit accuses: "Whitewater Rafting, its employees, agents, representatives, officials, and servants, knew that its rafting guides who supervised the sixth-grade students . . . on the whitewater rafting trip were not professionally trained or certified." The company, the suit said, "negligently, carelessly, and recklessly operated this whitewater rafting trip."

The suit also said that written consent, waivers and releases from parents were never obtained "authorizing defendant Jitney to select the operating company for the whitewater rafting trip."

The East End was wreathed in sorrow after the tragedy. A GoFundMe, "In Memory of Cesar Albarracin Guncay," was created.

"On behalf of the Sag Harbor community, this GoFundMe is created to support the family of Cesar Albarracin Guncay.
Cesar — a kind, handsome and athletic 6th grader, a friend to many, and a beloved neighborhood kid here in Sag Harbor — tragically lost his life in a rafting accident in the Poconos on May 27.

"He is immediately missed by his classmates, teachers, school families and the entire community," the page said. "On behalf of everyone in this village, and across the East End of Long Island, we remember Cesar fondly, we mourn his loss deeply, and we send our love and condolences to his entire family."

The school community also mourned the unthinkable loss.

"There are no words to adequately express the depth of this loss. Cesar was a cherished member of our school family, a child who mattered deeply to all who had the privilege of knowing him. His absence will leave an irreplaceable space in our classrooms, our hallways and our lives. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Cesar's family and friends during this very sad time. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers," Nichols said in the statement.

And, Nichols said: "On behalf of the entire district, we extend our deepest condolences to Cesar's family and loved ones during this extraordinarily difficult time. We ask our community to honor Cesar's memory and keep his family in our thoughts."

Mourners gathered under bright blue skies in June at the Most Holy Rosary Church in Bridgehampton to say good-bye to Cesar.

The many who loved him flocked to the church wearing blue — a color reflected not only in the skies overhead but in the hue of the coffin in which he was laid to rest.

A standing-only crowd in the church included scores of children and students, dressed in collared shirts and suits, khaki shorts and flower-dotted sundresses, clothes that might normally have been worn to sunny June graduations and school dances —instead, the students were dressed to attend the funeral of a classmate and friend.

Mothers wrapped their arms around their children as the service began.

Family members and mourners wiped away tears as Cesar's blue coffin was brought into the silent church, sun pouring through stained glass windows.

During the service, faith leaders spoke of the gathering as not just a time of sorrow, but a "celebration of the gift of Cesar."

In addition, they spoke of God and a young boy, gone too soon. "We pray for his soul," they said. "Pray for his family."

And, they added, "Vaya con Dios." Go with God.

The only sound as the priests spoke was the mournful, plaintive cry of an infant.

Speaking with Patch, Cesar's cousin Ashley Buestan reflected on the blue worn by so many. "It was really a color we all felt would represent him," she said.

Amidst the flowers at his funeral were drawings, pieces of artwork created by Cesar.

"He really liked soccer," Ashley said. "He was also a very creative little guy. He had paintings and drawings everywhere."

Her cousin, she added, "also loved to run. He was super, super, super fast — one of the top of his class."

In addition, Cesar had a huge heart and adored animals, she said. "He loved taking care of my dogs. Anytime we went on trips, he would be be dog sitter."

The loss, she said, is profound.

"He was like my little brother. He lived with me for seven years."

Cesar, she said, was originally from Ecuador, coming to the United States as a very small boy, about to turn seven.

Describing Cesar, she said: "He was very funny. And he was identical to his dad — everyone would say they looked like twins."

Cesar, she said, had been very excited about the rafting trip.

In Ecuador, where he was from, she said, "They don't have this type of stuff. So he loved trying new things, going on adventures. He loved amusement parks. Going on this trip, he was so excited — we were sitting in the car and ducks happened to pass in front of the car, and he said, 'We're going to be late!' He was so excited to be going."

In his short life, Cesar imbued her with forever life lessons, Buestan said. "He taught me to be adventurous, to try new things — that you lose nothing in doing it. Also, he taught me to not take a second for granted. You never know when it's going to be the last moment."

The outpouring of love from the community has been indescribable, Buestan said.

"The news spread so quickly, and was spread worldwide," she said. "Everyone knew about it, everywhere."

When they first heard about the accident, she said, her parents had gone with Cesar's to the Poconos — enveloped in grief, they wanted "to try and find him," she said.

And in those dark hours and days of sorrow, Buestan said the community rallied. "The number of people that stopped by, to drop things off and share their love and prayers — and then, yesterday at the funeral home, the amount of people that came into that room! There was no room to walk," she said.

Among those that turned out where Cesar's teachers and the school community, she said. "They're all there for him — and for us, as well," she said.

Thinking back on their shared memories, Buestan related a story that still makes her smile. "When he first came to this country there was a TikTok trend going around, a song. He was just learning English — he still had an accent — and he would often mistake this one word for a 'bad word', and sing that word, although he didn't mean to do it. One time we were sitting in the car on the way to Bridgehampton and he was singing the word over and over again. He ended up telling his friends — and his saying the word wrong, it became this big inside joke that we'd always bring up when we were together."

If she could see her beloved cousin's face one more time, speak to him again, Buestan said she knew exactly what she would say: "I would tell him that he was very loved, not just by me but by the community. And that he will always have a piece of my heart with him."

Cesar was laid to rest at Saint Andrews Cemetery in Sag Harbor.