Arethusa College Deception Bay apologises for dead body false alarm

An elite school north of Brisbane has apologised for an erroneous email to parents about an apparent dead body at a nearby train station.

Arethusa College at Deception Bay

A Moreton Bay region school has been criticised for not fact checking after it wrongfully revealed that a person had died at a train station on Friday morning.

Deception Bay’s Arethusa College emailed a letter to parents on Friday following a “distressing” incident where “an unknown young person was found deceased in close proximity to our neighbourhood but not directly associated with our school”.

But when approached by The Courier-Mail on Saturday morning, Queensland Rail, Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Police Service all denied a death had occurred.

The college posted a statement from executive principal Lisa Coles on Facebook late on Friday night to “clarify” an “incident of concern that a small number of high school students witnessed prior to arriving at the school for classes today”.

“At about 8am this morning (September 8, 2023), two Arethusa College high school students, who were later joined by a third student, attended Burpengary train station to catch a train to our Deception Bay campus.

“While at the Burpengary train station, the students came across a young person – a person who was not an Arethusa student. The students reported that this young person – on first view – appeared to be sleeping. The students attempted to wake the young person, but the individual remained unresponsive.

“As soon as the Arethusa students realised the person was in trouble, they immediately sought support from train station staff and an ambulance was called.

“Understandably, the students shared their experience with other students on arrival at school.

“Deception Bay College leaders were alerted to the incident and immediately spoke to the students and then contacted their parents to advise them about what had happened.

“In addition, to ensure all Deception College campus parents were aware of the facts about what had happened, the campus principal issued an advisory to all campus parents. The purpose being to ensure parents could speak knowledgeably to their children about what had happened if their children raised the issue in conversation about their school day.

“I understand this incident will have generated a range of feelings, from sadness, to anger and frustration. This has been a confronting incident for the students and train staff involved, as well as those who have learned of it since.”

The Facebook post by Arethusa College at Deception Bay

In her statement, Ms Coles said: “Every young person’s life is precious. When it is cut short, it is the most heart-wrenching of tragedies, whatever the reason”.

The post has since been deleted.

In a statement to The Courier-Mail on Saturday afternoon, Ms Coles apologised for failing to confirm if the young person had died before issuing the “well-intended communications” to parents.

Ms Coles said a review into the school’s communication process was under way, and defended the staff involved for lodging an incident report.

“We are reviewing our communication practices to ensure this does not occur again,” she said.

“While our letter was only intended for parents and not the wider community, we understand that social media means our advice to parents can be shared more broadly.”

The statement claims Queensland ambulance informed the school the young person did not in fact die, but was treated on scene by paramedics.

“We are deeply grateful for the life of this young person,” she said.

“However, at the same time we are also upset that we did not confirm reports from the scene that indicated the young person had died before issuing our well-intended communications to parents.

“We are sorry for the hurt this has caused.”

The statement continued to detail the distress suffered by staff and students who witnessed the “confronting, distressing” scene.

“We are informing these students and staff and will also update our community with this latest news,” Ms Coles said.

“Our staff followed all the correct procedures, lodging an incident report on what they experienced at the station.”

The principal said the letter was intended to ensure parents were forewarned and “well armed” on a matter their children may have experienced or heard about and may raise with them in conversation.

“The welfare of young people is at the heart of our college and everything we do is in their best interests,” she said.