Inset: Christopher Kelly (The Oregonian/Kelly Family). Background: The area in Oregon where Christopher Kelly died while planting trees (WBKO).
The mother of an Oregon student who died while planting trees to reach his school's volunteer goal to graduate has secured a settlement after suing for millions.
Court records viewed by The Oregonian state that Central Catholic High School in Portland and the nonprofit tree-planting organization that Christopher Kelly was doing volunteer work for, Friends of Trees, have reached a settlement with Kelly's mom, Sarah Kelly, after she sued the two parties for $29 million. The amount she received is confidential.
Police said in a 2021 press release that Christopher was killed that November in Multnomah County after being "struck by a fallen tree limb" in the area of Thousand Acres Dog Park at the Sandy River Delta in Troutdale, which is a suburb of Portland. The teen had been fulfilling required volunteer hours to graduate from Central Catholic High School when a large section of a black cottonwood tree fell from 52 feet and slammed into his head.
According to the lawsuit, Christopher "remained alive" and continued planting trees after being struck, but later died at the scene after emergency personnel arrived.
Christopher's mother filed a complaint in Multnomah County Circuit Court in 2024. The document alleged that Central Catholic High School and Friends of Trees were negligent in failing to protect students from bad weather despite the forecasted possibility of thunderstorms. Specifically, the complaint said that the host organizations neither provided volunteers with helmets nor moved volunteers into shelter after the last sound of thunder, as is advised by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
According to the filing, there were strong wind gusts and thunder reported 1 mile away from where the volunteers were planting trees. It reportedly noted that a group of students who were not properly dressed for the weather were huddled under a tent, and an arborist with Friends of Trees went to her car to get out of the elements. Christopher, who was a freshman, was allegedly planting trees with about 20 other students.
"Despite lifesaving efforts, the teenager did not survive their injuries," police said in the 2021 press release.
Christopher's obituary says he "died unexpectedly while he was volunteering."
In a statement released after his death, Central Catholic said, "Our community was deeply saddened by the tragic death of freshman Christopher Kelly in 2021 and continues to share our sympathy with the Kelly family."
According to Christopher's obituary, the teen had been in foster care up until 2010, when he joined his adoptive family.
In addition to asking for donations to help "kiddos with learning differences," the obituary asks that people who read it "please tell someone a dad joke" seeing as "Chris loved telling dad jokes."
Elura Nanos contributed to this report.