Tragic deaths of St Brendan’s College students Mitchell Norris and Eli Kent

St Brendan’s College in central Queensland has been rocked by the death of two young students in just days with the latest tragedy involving an ATV rollover on a private property.

St Brendan’s College is mourning the loss of two young members of its community in just three days.

Year 9 student Mitchell Norris died in hospital on Friday following an ATV rollover on a private property at Bungundarra on the Capricorn Coast.

Year 7 student Eli Kent died on Sunday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

St Brendan’s issued a statement on Monday confirming the devastating news.

“St Brendan’s College lost two much-loved members of its community recently with the tragic passing of Mitchell Norris in hospital on Friday following an ATV accident, and Eli Kent who passed away after battling with an illness,” it read.

“Both will be missed by St Brendan’s College and the wider community.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to both families and their friends.

“Today we are blessed to have the support of the wider Catholic community and Queensland Health who provided counselling support for our staff and students. This support will be ongoing for the foreseeable future.”

It has been a challenging year for St Brendan’s, which lost long-serving staff member Peter Bartlett and Year 11 student Rhys Yore within days of each other in January.

Mr Bartlett had a terminal brain tumour and Rhys died in a single-vehicle car crash in Yeppoon.

Eli Kent.

Eli had recently turned 14, and was undergoing another round of radiation in early August.

He and his family returned to Yeppoon in November 2020 after spending nine months in Brisbane hospitals when Eli was initially diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in his right ankle in February 2020.

The Kent family shared their heartbreaking news on Monday on a Facebook page that was created to keep the community updated on Eli’s journey.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beautiful boy Eli on Sunday afternoon,” the post read.

“He was incredibly loved by so many people and will be sorely missed.”